Candidates' Data

Democrats

Barack H. Obama, Jr.
U.S. Senator, IL: Ethics Committee
b.1961, Honolulu, HI; wife Michelle, 2 children
BA (Political Science), Columbia University, 1983
JD magna cum laude, Harvard University Law School, 1991

Primary delegates: 2,201

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Joseph R. "Joe" Biden, Jr.
U.S. Senator, DE: Judiciary & Foreign Relations Committees
b.1942, Scranton, PA; wife Jill, 3 children
BA (History / Political Science), University of Delaware, 1965
JD, Syracuse University College of Law, 1968

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Democrat Also-rans:

• Hillary Rodham Clinton (1,896 delegates)
• Christopher J. "Chris" Dodd
• John R. Edwards (26 delegates)
• Maurice R. "Mike" Gravel
• Dennis R. Kucinich
• William B. "Bill" Richardson

Republicans

John S. McCain III
U.S. Senator, AZ: Commerce Committee
b.1936, Panama Canal Zone; wife Cindy, 7 children, 4 grandchildren
BS, U.S. Naval Academy, 1958

Primary delegates: 1,575

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Sarah H. Palin
Governor, AK
b.1964, Sandpoint, ID; husband Todd, 5 children
BS (Journalism), University of Idaho, 1986

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Republican Also-rans:

• Rudolph W. "Rudy" Giuliani
• Michael D. "Mike" Huckabee (267 delegates)
• Duncan L. Hunter
• Alan L. Keyes
• Ronald F. "Ron" Paul (16 delegates)
• W. Mitt Romney (286 delegates)
• Thomas G. "Tom" Tancredo
• Fred Dalton Thompson

Greens

Cynthia A. McKinney
former U.S. Representative, GA: International Relations Committee
b.1955, Atlanta, GA; 1 child
BA (International Relations) University of Southern California, 1978
MA (Law & Diplomacy) Fletcher School, Tufts University

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Rosa A. Clemente
b. New York, NY
University of Albany, Cornell University

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Green Also-rans:

• Jared Ball
• Jesse Johnson
• Kent Mesplay
• Kat Swift

Libertarians

Robert L. "Bob" Barr
former U.S. Representative, GA: Judiciary, Gov't Reform, and Financial Services Committees
wife Jeri

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Wayne Allyn Root
BA (Political Science) Columbia University, 1983

 

A Reflection on Qualities of the Major Party Candidates

Besides the main issues in this year's presidential campaign, there have been personal qualities which are important to many people.  Among these are Experience, Elitism, Celebrity, Oratory, and Decision-making.  Some of these could be helpful to the needs of our nation, while others are not.

Experience:  If, by experience, we simply mean age, then we need only consider the two youngest presidents so far—Theodore Roosevelt and John Kennedy (both 43 when inaugurated)—to see that this sort of inexperience, in itself, doesn't seem to hurt the presidency.  While none of our presidents have been perfect, whatever our youngest chief executives might have lacked in experience, they've more than made up in ingenuity, vitality, determination, and vision.  However, when we speak of experience, we probably mean something more than just the number of birthdays a candidate has celebrated.  In that case, we ought to be as inquisitive about the kind and quality of experience as about the mere quantity and intensity of it.

John McCain's experience contains praiseworthy moments: his military service and his fierce independence under pressure from his own party's bosses.  But during the past few decades he's also had a lot of experience crafting public policy favoring large corporations and the wealthy—often at the expense of ordinary people and small businesses.  (Perhaps he doesn't see it that way, but that's because, like many conservatives, he chooses to look only at the up-sides of his positions while ignoring their down-sides.)  Despite his maverick reputation, in the last eight years McCain has aligned himself with the ruinous policies of the Bush administration in more than 90 percent of his Senate votes.  He might have been a maverick once upon a time; but times and people change.

In contrast, Barack Obama's experience has been of a more humble sort.  A Harvard graduate, he had ample chance to become a high-priced corporate attorney.  But instead, he chose to help working people who'd been dislocated and disadvantaged by corporate calamity and government indifference.  Conscientious dedication to the welfare of ordinary citizens is perhaps neither as spectacular as flying a fighter plane in combat, nor as grueling as years spent in a prisoner-of-war camp.  But we can credibly argue that Obama's compassionate dedication to people and his experience in public service are much more relevant to what's needed in someone to be entrusted with the sober responsibilities of serving the people and leading the Free World.

Elitism:  Both major-party candidates in 2008 are truly elites, each with a record of superior achievement, success against great odds, and public service.  When choosing someone to serve in the nation's highest office, we ought to demand the best available.  We clearly need above-average intelligence, education, dedication, and expertise to govern our nation well (as should be obvious from the disastrous results of the utter lack of these qualities in the current administration).  People who have all these qualities are indeed the elite among us.  However, we should bear in mind that being an elite and being an elitist are two different things.  An elite is someone who's demonstrated extraordinary performance and merit, whereas an elitist is someone who arrogantly supposes others to be inherently inferior.

So here's a quick quiz about elitism: On the one hand, we have a candidate who gives American voters credit for being intelligent enough to follow a nuanced argument, and rational enough to formulate their decisions accordingly.  On the other hand, we have a candidate who bets American voters are stupid enough to fall for flag-waving, distortions, scare tactics, and simplistic remedies for complex problems.  Which of these is really the elitist?

(Note that this question concerns only which view of American voters is elitist, not which is more accurate; we'll learn the answer to that on election day.)

Celebrity:  Several presidential candidates from both parties have been celebrities of one sort or another: Ronald Reagan, John Kennedy, and Dwight Eisenhower, just to mention those of the past half century.  Even Senator McCain himself has enjoyed a degree of "maverick" celebrity status during his years in the Senate.  Did celebrity status detract from any of these men's performance in office?  If not, why should it have any different effect on Barack Obama?  Why should the fact that some people seem to be quite fond of him be considered a liability?  Whether he is or is not a celebrity simply isn't relevant—it's a red herring.  Perhaps Mr. McCain would do well to recall an observation by author H. G. Welles: "Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo."

Oratory:  Along with celebrity, it seems, often goes the knack of charming an audience with speech.  Some people—Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama—have it; most do not.  It's all the more impressive when an orator understands the difference between logic and rhetoric, and is able to employ sound reasoning as well as emotional appeal to make his points.  Charming rhetoric can be deadly to the gullible when coupled with the intent to mislead and defraud, and ought to be challenged and exposed for the malice it is.  But when linked to honesty and clear thinking, a talent for oratory is an admirable asset, a tool of truth, not something to be despised.

Decision-making:  One thing we can say about John McCain, conductor of the (so-called) Straight-Talk Express, is that he's decisive and direct.  When asked what we should do about evil—confront it, reason with it, or defeat it—he replies immediately (and evidently without contemplating exactly how), "Defeat it!"  Asked when a human fetus acquires a soul, he responds without a moment's hesitation, "At the moment of conception!"  This is the sort of answer many (probably a majority of) Americans love—simple and straightforward.  No ifs, ands, or buts; no conditions, qualifications or exceptions; no nuance, no support, no analysis—no thinking required.  Unfortunately, this is also the robotically reflexive sort of answer that has historically gotten us into trouble, in a real world that's not as simple—not as easy to encapsulate in a sound-bite philosophy or a bumper-sticker worldview—as many folks nowadays might prefer.

As for evil, the person who supposes it can be simply defeated typically envisions it in the form of some specific Bad Guy or Evil Entity—Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Communism, The Axis of Evil, Satan—someone or something completely alien to us "Good Guys."  Framing evil this way is useful for erecting a conspicuous target for anger, hatred, and fear, for demonizing and dehumanizing those with whom we differ—just as extremists on the other side employ the same tactic to demonize and dehumanize us as the evildoers in their worldview.  But this short-circuits the very thinking process that elevates man above his fellow creatures.  Evil isn't always "out there."  Though we might deny it, all too often we find it "in here," in our nation, in our town, in our neighborhood, in ourselves.  Dishonesty, abuse, corruption, injustice, dereliction of duty, crime, greed, laziness, addiction, hatred, violence.  Defeating these and other evils is not a simple matter, unless we're willing to accept eradication of the entire human species as an acceptable solution.

As to soul, that it appears at conception is a relatively newfangled notion.  For thousands of years, it was believed that an infant's soul arrived at the moment of its first breath after birth—in accord with the story of Genesis, in which God breathes life into Adam.  A much more recent but still venerable view is that soul's arrival is signaled by quickening, when a pregnant woman first feels movement of the fetus in her womb.  Obviously, determining exactly when soul shows up is tricky, because no one has ever actually seen a soul or devised a test to detect its presence.  Consequently, many feel free to describe soul very liberally.  Some nowadays assert that soul originates, not at birth or quickening, but at conception.  (And why not?  Who has evidence to prove otherwise?)  Indeed, some beliefs extend the concept further, proposing that soul has no beginning, but transmigrates from a dying person to one about to be born.  (Can't prove otherwise!)  However, we could as credibly go the other way, speculating that soul manifests itself when self-awareness emerges—typically between the first and second year of life—or when durable memory becomes established—usually between age three and four.  (No evidence to disprove either of these!)  Or we could argue there's no such thing as soul, that human awareness, emotion, and thought are simply biological activities of the brain.  (Still no proof for or against!)  Indeed, it seems everything we purport to "know" about soul is actually unsupported assumption.  Without evidence to support or refute it, one angle of conjecture is no more valid than any other, no matter how intensely we might choose to believe it.  So anyone who professes to know that ensoulment occurs at a particular moment is stating, not a fact, but a mere assumption.  He has no more power than you or I to know such a thing for certain; he's just less honest about his ignorance—a prideful failing which has proven catastrophic on innumerable occasions, from the kings of antiquity down to the administration of George W. Bush.

By reflecting rationally on such questions, Barack Obama shows the clear contrast between his own mature and orderly thinking process and that of his (ironically) elder rival, John McCain.  Though relatively young, at 47 Obama is most certainly not a naïve kid fresh out of school.  Unlike many others, he's given abundant evidence of being a thoughtful and broadly educated, and thus potentially wise, human being—not indecisive, just not given to acting impulsively on simplistic assumptions, or jumping to conclusions that aren't warranted.  In a president, we're less in need of someone who's demonstrated snap decision-making and raw courage under fire, than of someone who demonstrates cool and competent reasoning under pressure.

Today, for example,  we need a president who...

• ...is aware that the Muslim world is not monolithic, but comprises distinct sects, with both moderate and extremist factions within each (just as within the many sects of Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism);

• ...has the flexibility to question the traditional warriors' mindset, and consider that a truly winning strategy in Iraq might actually mean withdrawing troops, where the presence of "infidel invaders and occupiers" aggravates and prolongs the very instability they're intended to quell;

• ...has the fiscal savvy to grant that the remedy for every economic ill might not be a budget-busting tax break for corporations and the wealthy;

• ...has the math skills to recognize the futility of a country, which consumes 25 percent of the world's oil production yet possesses only three percent of the accessible reserves, trying to drill itself out of dependency on foreign petroleum;

• ...has the foresight to press forward on both conservation and alternative energy sources;

• ...will stand up to the lobbies, and impose responsible regulatory order where chaos now reigns in such crucial areas as health care, housing, public safety, banking, energy, insurance, and transportation;

• ...has the humanity to work for fair, just, and realistic policy for diplomacy, education, emergency services, immigration, public infrastructure, labor, research, security, and trade.

For nearly eight years our nation has suffered skyrocketing debt, socio-economic stratification, corporate corruption, volatile and imploding markets, job erosion, privacy invasion, emergency relief bungling, security breaches, strangulation of science, and plummeting credibility both at home and abroad.  All this has come about under an administration that flouts the Constitution it's sworn to defend and protect, that insists upon making up its own rules and "reality" without challenge from an impotent Congress, and that operates on snap decisions and contorted schemes based on flawed beliefs, cherry-picked intelligence, and cooked data.  Though McCain will try to distance himself from the woeful effects of eight years of his party's rule, for the most part he still adheres to the fuzzy ideologies and discredited practices that caused and perpetuated them.

It's high time for America to grow up, to regain its grip on reality, and thus on prosperity and progress.  This doesn't mean to elect the most elderly candidate with the fiercest temper, the one who has faith that "market forces" will magically solve the problems of health care and fuel prices, who proposes to "fix" Social Security by tossing it to the mercies of Wall Street, and who cynically seeks to scare us with the blatantly false claims that his opponent lacks experience and wants to raise our taxes.  Rather, it means to choose the candidate who's consistently demonstrated the most mature thinking and sober judgment, who's able and willing to make the tough decisions to see our nation and our world through these tough times and into a better and more genuinely hopeful future.  For our nation's sake, let's hope that, despite the inevitable distractions, the American voter can manage to keep his eye on the ball this time.

=SAJ=