Sean Kennedy: "Obama’s better ideas, McCain’s bad ideas, and McCain’s poor record on some rather critical issues."

For me, voting against John McCain would be the easiest thing in the world to do.

The fact that he married into Anheuser-Busch wholesaler money is reason enough for me to reject him. The fact that McCain has tirelessly sought make stupidity into something fashionable is an equally solid reason to check another box, as is his unwavering support of the worst president in United States history, the marvelously shrivelled George W. Bush.

However, what I've waited seemingly forever to do is be genuinely inspired to vote for a presidential candidate. This essay by Sean Kennedy summarizes my reasons for voting for Barack Obama on November 4, and touches firmly on the reasons not to vote for McCain. I hope Kennedy doesn't mind the reprint, which is titled "The Case for Obama.

----

I am an independent thinker with an independent mind. Therefore, I've been a registered Independent since 1992. I'm an issues voter; I don't vote for a party. I don't even have to like a candidate; I just have to like where he/she stands on the issues. I vote for the best, most qualified, candidate, or the best, most constructive, ideas to help our nation.

That’s why I support Barack Obama for president over John McCain.

I have reached this decision out of a combination of Obama’s better ideas, McCain’s bad ideas, and McCain’s poor record on some rather critical issues.

The critical issues facing America right now are the economy; energy independence and the need for clean, renewable energy sources; affordable healthcare that doesn’t hinder workers or employers; global warming; education; the two wars our military is presently fighting in separate countries; and paying down our massive national debt through budget restraint and spending controls.

When it comes to the environment, Barack Obama clearly comes out on top.

Right now, we have the scientific knowledge and the cutting-edge technologies we need to create new jobs and industries, cut global warming pollution, and build a cleaner, greener energy future. But technology isn't quite enough—we also need to have acommitted, pro-environment president. Obama is that person.

The League of Conservation Voters – a non-partisan, independent group that champions environmental issues – backs Obama.

On its 2007 National Environmental Scorecard, the LCV gave Senator McCain a score of ZERO. According to the scorecard, McCain was the only member of Congress to skip all 15 crucial environmental votes scored by LCV.

Then in February, McCain continued this pattern. He was the only Senator to duck a crucial vote on thefuture of clean energy in America -- dooming to failure the measure that would have helped make renewable energy more affordable and accessible.

McCain's lifetime LCV score of 24 (out of 100) reveals “a history of siding with polluters and special interests, and a consistent pattern of ducking important environmental votes.”

McCain has voted against increasing fuel efficiency standards (twice recently) and renewable energy, and supported billions in subsidies for Big Oil and other polluters. According to the LCV, “John McCain's energy plan is nothing short of a continuation of the Bush-Cheney dirty energy plan.”

However, the LCV says the Obama-Biden team has “the most comprehensive energy plan ever put forward by a presidential campaign.”

When it comes to healthcare, the Obama plan is reasonable, sound and comprehensive.

Contrary to some hysterical conservative claims, Obama’s plan does not call for government healthcare. Instead, the Obama plan would strengthen employer coverage, make insurance companies accountable, and ensure patient choice of doctor and care without government interference.

The plan would provide affordable, accessible health care for all Americans, building on the existing health care system, and using existing providers, doctors and plans to implement the plan.

Importantly, the Obama plan would do the following:

- Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions for all Americans, regardless of their health status or history.

- Require coverage of preventive services, including cancer screenings.

- Give the public access to a plan based on the benefits available to members of Congress, allowing individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health coverage.

- Create a new Small Business Health Tax Credit to help small businesses provide affordable health insurance to their employees.

- Ensure everyone who needs it will receive a tax credit for their premiums.

- Prevent insurers from overcharging doctors for their malpractice insurance and invest in proven strategies to reduce preventable medical errors.

- Lower drug costs by allowing the importation of safe medicines from other developed countries, increasing the use of generic drugs in public programs, and taking on drug companies that block cheaper generic medicines from the market.

- Require hospitals tocollect and report health care cost and quality data.

- Reform the insurance market to increase competition by taking on anti-competitive activity that drives up prices without improving quality of care.

This reform plan would be paid for through cost savings, by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year, and by retaining the estate taxat its 2009 level.

While one in seven Americans remains uninsured, McCain proposes nothing but tax credits ($5000 for a family; $2500 for an individual). But the poor aren't paying much in taxes to begin with, so their policies would still be socialized, which is anathema to Republican ideology. And the credits they’d receive under such a plan won't cover the expense of health insurance anyway; this year, the average family policy cost $12,680. So the poor would still need to come up with money they don’t have in order to cover the difference.

In a 60 Minutes interview, when asked if he agreed with Hillary Clinton's assertion that providing universal healthcare is a moral responsibility, McCain answered, "Well, I think that's one of the big differences we have about the role of government. If you think that the government should mandate anything to the American people besides a safety net -- and I don't view it as a safety net -- I view Medicare and Medicaid as a safety net. But to mandate that all Americans are required to do something, then that's just not within the fundamental philosophy that I have about the role of government in America."

But universal healthcare is the fundamental definition of a safety net. Yet, incredibly McCain doesn't recognize this. That's tough to reconcile -- especially since he has been protected by such a safety net for the vast majority of his life.

From the mid-'50s, when he entered the Naval Academy, to his retirement in 1981, McCain was covered by government healthcare. And from the very next year, 1982, until now, McCain has remained covered by government healthcare. That's over a half century, and yet, he still opposes government healthcare. Strange, isn't it?

It is, indeed, time for a change, and John McCain in no way represents change. McCain is part of the old guard and represents the past. His time came and went. The 2000 election should have been his time, but it wasn’t. I liked and supported McCain back then. But now the only change I associate with him is the fact that he’s changed -- for the worse. He now seems like a callous, bitter and angry old man.

McCain makes the case that he would bring change and reform to the White House. Here’s the problem with that claim: McCain has already been in Washington for 26 years. How is that change? The Republicans have controlled the White House for the past eight years. How is that change?

According to Congressional Quarterly, John McCain voted with President Bush 100% of the time in 2008, 95% of the time in 2007, and 90% of the time during the Bush years.

As McCain himself acknowledged, “I voted with the president over 90 percent of the time, higher than a lot of my even Republican colleagues.”

With all of this in mind, how could the election of McCain possibly represent reform? It would just be more of the same. And isn't the status quo the opposite of reform?

The Republicans have cynically attempted to turn being intelligent into something bad – “elitism” is what they shamelessly call it. No matter, intelligence is never a bad thing; rather, it is critical quality, an asset and an attribute. Barack Obama has it in spades. The man served as the president of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude from this most prestigious of law schools. At every point in our nation’s history, this fact would have been lauded and heralded in a presidential candidate. If this is now deemed too “elitist” for some, we have regressed as a nation and truly lost our way.

On the other hand, we have been introduced to the intellectually bankrupt and incurious Sarah Palin. John McCain’s selection of her as his running mate is an affront and an insult to all Americans, whether they realize it or not. There were so many other competent, qualified, conservative women on the national scene, with vastly greater experience than Palin. And yet McCain chose her. How’s that for judgment?

The great misadventure that is the war in Iraq has become a national disaster of epic and historic proportions. Iraq was not behind the 9/11 attacks and did not possess the WMD promised by the Bush Administration. Yet, the ghastly cost of the war has exceeded $845 billion – higher than the cost of the Vietnam conflict. And the costs just keep mounting, at $10 billion each month. It is bleeding our Treasury and keeps us from being able to invest in our own country; schools, hospitals, healthcare, roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure.

John McCain acts as if his support for the so-called “surge” (simply a troop increase) makes his unwavering support for this poorly conceived war from the very beginning okay. It isn’t okay. The “surge” isn’t the end, and it certainly doesn’t justify the means.

If that isn’t enough, McCain - the war hero - doesn’t walk the talk and put his money where his mouth is. The Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that advocates on the behalf of returning military personnel and their families. It just released its 2008 report card, detailing which members of Congress are working for veterans, military members, and their families. McCain received a grade of D, while Obama received a B. Go figure.

Barack Obama is the first presidential candidate born in the '60s (1961). A new generation is finally coming of age.

He is the classic outsider, a man beholden to few in Washington; he is just the man to break grip of the special interests. He has lived around the world and is anything but simple or provincial. He will not take a cowboy approach to foreign policy and will restore our once great international image. He has forsaken big business opportunities in order to address the problems of the working class; he may be ambitious indeed, but he has also proven himself to be selfless.

Barack Obama possesses the power of charisma, a critical element that allows a politician to inspire a nation, lend confidence to its citizens, rally them to a cause, and keep them focused and determined in the face of great difficulty, or even desperation. It is exactly what this nation needs at this moment in its history.

I believe that Obama can compel the American citizenry, and invest in them the will to participate in a common venture with their fellow citizens. Obama has the gravitas to focus the country on a common goal -- like renewable energy and energy independence -- by illustrating the common good that can be served when we are united, not divided, in pursuit of this goal.

America needs to think big. There are very clear national goals and objectives at hand. We are facing many crisis' all at once. I think that Barack Obama, as president, will possess the necessary charisma to inspire this nation, create the will to rise to these many challenges, and see to it that our missions are accomplished.

For all these reasons, I think Obama is best suited to be the next President of the United States.