Not a Big Truck

There is a reason why senators have a difficult time being elected president.  Often they carry with them long voting records that hang around their necks and expose them to a whole lot of criticism–both fair and unfair.

The current campaign is historic for many reasons, but one reason that is often overlooked is that for the first time since 1960, we will elect a senator to be president.  Obama, however, is atypical of most senators in that due to his short time in the senate, he has a limited voting record for his opponents to criticize.

John McCain’s record is substantial.  But an interesting element of this campaign–part of this is because the media focuses mostly on Obama and his story–is that McCain’s record and experience has a huge gap.  The media treats McCain as though he was a POW, returned home, and immediately became the Maverick that we supposedly saw in the late 90s and early 2000s. What about the nearly three decades in between and all the votes? Mostly ignored.

How many Americans know that McCain opposed creating a federal holiday in memory of Martin Luther King Jr? He has recently stated that it was a mistake, but opposed the effort in the Congress until the late 1980s.

How many Americans know that McCain opposed sanctions against apartheid South Africa?

How many female Clinton supporters, who claim to cherish reproductive rights, know McCain’s record on the right to choose? From McCain’s own campaign website:

John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench.

He has also claimed that he wishes to appoint judges to SCOTUS like Alito and Roberts, who both seem to be willing to overturn Roe v. Wade.  It is likely that the next president will be appointing justices to replace liberal justices already on the court.  Stevens and Ginsburg are seen by many as the most likely to retire in the near future.  Allowing McCain to replace one of these justices could lead to Roe v. Wade being overturned.  It seems that Clinton supporters are oblivious to this.

McCain has also supported efforts in the past to privatize social security. I wonder how many of his older supporters are aware of that? He now doesn’t like using the term “privatize” and, in fact, information on his Social Security plan on his website seems to be placed on the back burner.

These are just a few issues that have been ignored.  It’s too bad people aren’t focusing some more on McCain’s policies. My guess is that the numbers in the election would begin to look like a race between a generic Dem and a generic Rep.  While Obama would dominate on the issues, it seems as though he will have to win on personality.