What I Like About the Presidential Candidates

Last week I wrote about my disagreements with John McCain and Barack Obama. This week I am going to focus about what I find positive about each of the candidates.

Iraq

Both candidates are partly right here. Sen. Barack Obama was correct in objecting a pre-emptive war that we didn't need to fight. While I believe firmly that America should defend itself when threatened, the lesson that I have taken away from the Iraq fiasco is that just because we can fight bad guys (and Saddam Hussein was very bad) does not mean that we should. War is messy. Civilians die. Our troops get killed. War puts people in barbaric circumstances where they may betray their better nature due to fear, stress, panic or anger. Embarassments like Abu Ghraib and Haditha are bound to happen despite the best intentions of our commanders or our soldiers on the ground. Since the cost of war is so high, it should be reserved for situations where overwhelming force can eliminate a threat or we have no choice. In retrospect, Iraq did not fit either category. Saddam Hussein was a sadistic dictator who invaded neighboring countries, thumbed his nose at the international community and committed atrocities against his own people. However, at the time of the Iraq invasion, he was largely contained. Additionally, we did not have the moral authority to lead an invasion. We could have done that in 1991 after the first Gulf War. However, 2003 was not the right time.

Sen. John McCain was also partly right about Iraq. He courageously stood up to his party's administration to say that torture was not an acceptable practice for a free, democratic country. He also realized that the Bush administration's plan for managing the insurgency in Iraq was badly flawed. The only thing worse than an unnecessary war is an unnecessary war badly handled. Sen. McCain was right to realize that once you intervene in a country in the name of democracy, you can't just walk away in midstream.

Taxes

While I don't agree completely with either candidate, the fact that they are both talking about tax cuts for some segment of the population is good. Sen. Obama wants to cut taxes for people who don't pay any taxes. That seems like a government handout rather than a true tax cut. Sen. McCain wants to cut taxes for everyone including the super-rich. I really don't mind that much if people who make a lot more money than me pay more in taxes. Perhaps I should, but I don't.

Immigration

Both John McCain and Barack Obama have supported immigration reform. I think this is very important. Our immigration system is broken. We have a high demand for immigrant workers, but our laws do not allow them to come here legally. As a result, we have illegal immigration. The logical solution would be to find a way to allow the people who want to come here to work to do so legally. Both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain have supported this in the past, although they also voted for the stupid border fence.

Family Values

This is not an issue usually identified with Democrats. However, I have to give credit to Sen. Obama and Sen. Biden for their commitment to their families. Sen. Obama has been devoted to his wife and children. Sen. Biden raised his children as a single parent after the tragic death of his wife. Gov. Palin also deserves credit for supporting her pregnant daughter's decision to keep her baby even though it made for some embarassing publicity for her campaign. Sen. McCain who left his first wife for an heiress doesn't score as well in this area, but at least he has been faithful to his second wife.

Bankruptcy Reform

This is an issue near and dear to my heart since I am bankruptcy lawyer. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 took a system that worked relatively well and provided a useful tool for keeping families in the middle class and made it more complicated and expensive with little benefit in return. Sen. Obama was one of the few Senators who stood against this bill. Of course, his running mate, Sen. Biden, was one of the main cheerleaders for it. The Obama-Biden ticket has proposed allowing home mortgages to be modified in bankruptcy, a change which should help some families.

Judges

I believe strongly that a government of laws is superior to a government of men. Sen. McCain believes that the legislative branch should make the laws and that the judicial branch should apply the laws as written without regard to who benefits. I think that this is a sound philosophy and one which preserves the balance in our system. Appointing judges who will decide cases based on who they want to win is a very bad idea.

Energy

While renewable energy sources make excellent long term sense, we are nowhere near being able to rely on these technologies. Therefore, unless we pursue an "all of the above" strategy which includes domestic oil drilling and nuclear power as well as promotion of alternate energy sources, we will be in serious trouble. John McCain recognizes this.

Bipartisanship

There has been a lot said in this election about the need for change and specifically the need to change the tone in Washington. John McCain has a good record of working with the oppositve party, even when it places him in conflict with his own party. He has done this on judicial nominations, campaign finance reform and immigration. Barack Obama is also willing to work with Republicans, but only when they agree with the Democratic Party, as shown by the fact that he votes with the Democrats 96% of the time.