Issues, Not Race or Gender, Should Drive Election

The News & Advance
Published: September 6, 2008

The 2008 presidential election season has been historic. Never before has a black American candidate and a woman sparred so intensely over the Democratic nomination with the black American winning and being nominated to head the Democratic ticket.

Never before has the Republican presidential candidate selected a woman to run as his vice president.

So the tickets are set: Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware will take to the hustings as the Democratic nominees. Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska will oppose them from the Republican side of the national rostrum.

It is now time to turn the campaign to the issues. Enough has been said and written about the historic aspects of race and gender in this campaign. But the contest should not turn on either race or gender. And let us hope it does not.

There will be voters for whom race will be the one and only factor. In the 21st century, that’s sad, but it’s simply a fact of life.

No supporter of the Democratic ticket, however, should make the leap and label as racist anyone who has legitimate, philosophical and ideological differences with Obama. That is an equally disgusting a use of a candidate’s race for political gain.

This campaign should turn on the issues. And there is a wide array of choice on those issues.

On the economy, for example, McCain would maintain the approach President Bush has laid out, keeping tax cuts in place that he says will invigorate the economy. Obama would repeal tax cuts for the wealthy earning more than $200,000 annually, and offer them to lower income wage earners. McCain has said the economy is generally healthy, while Obama has staked out the position that it is in significantly worse shape than it was four years ago.

Both candidates say a national energy policy is critical to the future of America, but they have differing approaches to it. McCain would rely more heavily on drilling new sources of oil in this country, while Obama’s campaign has put a greater emphasis on alternative energy sources, such as wind, solar, natural gas and nuclear. Gasoline prices, meanwhile continue to consume an ever greater portion of the average wage earner’s income.

Talk of health care will occupy the candidates for much of the campaign between now and Nov. 4. McCain favors giving Americans tax credits to purchase health insurance. He says that would allow Americans to choose the insurance provider that suits them best. Obama says he wants to correct what he calls the “outrage” of 47 million uninsured Americans. He supports universal health care that he says would lower costs for the typical American family and enable all Americans to buy affordable and portable health insurance coverage.

The national campaign will be waged on the war in Iraq, another area where the differences between the presidential candidates is stark. McCain voted for the war in the beginning and says he would reduce the number of American troops only if the Iraqi government begins to show signs it can fend for itself against militant insurgents who care little or nothing about their people or the government. Obama says he would draw down the number of troops in a gradual manner consistent with recommendations from the military.

On foreign policy in general, Sen. Biden in his acceptance speech in Denver slammed what he called “the Bush-McCain foreign policy” and criticized McCain for being wrong on Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.

Both candidates, nonetheless, remain resolute in the battle against terrorism and are committed to the effort to root out the forces of terrorism who would use dynamite and AK-47s to get their point of view across.

One subject that should not be an issue during the campaign is whether one candidate is more patriotic than the other. Obama touched on that during his acceptance speech, saying he is just as patriotic and just as good an American as his opponent and he’s right. None of the nominees reached the pinnacle of national politics without being good Americans.

Social Security, immigration policies and dozens of other issues on which the candidates disagree will also be on the table between now and election day. May the candidates focus on these important issues and may the voters pay attention to what they are saying. Let the campaign begin in earnest.