Obama vs. McCain

Now that Hillary is out of the way, Obama and McCain have been going back and forth lately on the U.S. economy. In watching both speak, Obama, while clearly the better public speaker, McCain continues to fumble while trying to read the teleprompter. That said, each candidate's positions on taxes, spending, budgeting, and trade have been quite clear and their arguments have for the most part been articulate, convincing, and serious.

McCain has been trying to convince voters that he is a true fiscal conservative, where Obama has been trying to paint McCain's ideas as a continuation of Bush's failed policy.

What's interesting is Americans have two distinct choices in economic policy. The question is, who is offering real fiscal conservatism.

The thing is, Obama's policy is tied to the war in Iraq--by getting out immediately, they free up billions, but not necessarily. There's a huge deficit and debt now, and the next generations will be paying for it for quite some time. I imagine any money "saved" will pretty much have to go toward that. But Obama also proposes a pay-as-you-go policy where he would legislate that if you want tax cuts, you need to cut spending somewhere.

McCain believes the war in Iraq should end successfully in 2013, five years from now. How much more will be spent and what will be the result? More deficit and debt?

I could compare their tax policies now, but I think the real issue here isn't the economy, it's the Iraq war, and the effect it's having on the U.S. economy.

So what I'm trying to say is, if Obama continues to remind voters that no matter what McCain proposes, his policy to continue the war by also pegging him to Bush's "failed policies", this will only cripple the economy further.

I'm not saying I agree with either of them, as they both have policies that fit with my view. I'm saying that from the speeches that I've seen, I'd say that Obama's been more convincing in this area.

It's also refreshing to see two candidates simply debate the issues on real policy.