Less of the Same

How many times have we listened to Barack Obama's recitation, "John McCain is another 4 years of George Bush. It's just more of the same." I don't understand the mantra. In the Republican party, fewer members differ on issues as greatly as McCain and Bush. Yes, they are both pro-life and believe in less big government but on other issues, there are considerable differences. McCain supports embrionic stem cell research, Bush does not. There views are also quite different on illegal immigration, taxes, government spending, treatment of native Americans and gun control. Seems like less of the same to me. Throw Sarah Palin into the mix and the differences increase.

When Senator McCain announced Sarah Palin, a Washington outsider, as his running mate, the repsonse from the Obama camp was, “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies — that’s not the change we need, it’s just more of the same,” quipped Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

Zero Foreign Policy Experience?

Exactly where did Senator Obama receive his foreign policy experience? I can't see where he has any more than zero. And it seems to me, that as governor of a state that borders two countries, Russia and Canada, Governor Palin must utilize a fair amount of diplomacy.

How do Sarah Palin's views on big issues differ from both Bush and John McCain?

On Abortion:

Palin probably feels more strongly about overturning Roe vs. Wade than either Bush or McCain. McCain appears somewhat ambiguous on the issue. He feels that the supreme court ruling should be made irrelevant but not repealed. Obama is certainly the least compassionate candidate on abortion. In the senate, he supported both partial birth and live birth abortions. Personally, I don't see how a baby born from a botched abortion could be left in a room to die and that not be considered murder.

On the Agenda of Big Oil
An oil man himself, George Bush certainly supports the agenda of big oil. But does Sarah Palin? Her serving as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission led to the resignation of both Randy Reudrich, head of the Alaskan Republican Party, and former Alaska attorney general, Greg Renkes. from the commission due to conflicts of interest in both cases. Sarah Palin shows no fear of either corruption in her own party or big oil. That's a very big case of "less of the same". John McCain seems to favor advancements in nuclear power technology rather than catering to big oil. Additional investment in solar and wind turbine technologies also rank high on his priority list, unlike President Bush.

Failed Economic Policies
Both John McCain and Sarah Palin seem more reminiscent of Ronald Reagan than George Bush in this arena. McCain learned many lessons in economic policy from President Reagan and his staff during his early years in office and seems to carry that knowledge forward. Both McCain and Palin vow to veto bills laden with "pork barrel" spending and distribute excesses to the citizens. Palin has already done this in Alaska with excess revenue from oil and gas taxes.

In my opinion, I don't see any of this as "more of the same"! Both candidates, Obama and McCain propose change, and I believe regardless of who is elected, change is what will see. Keep in mind though, that change is not always good.

When Joe Biden enters the picture, I see quite a bit of "more of the same". Do we need more of the same rhetoric, wasteful spending, higher taxes, big government, liberalism, and erosion of the country's moral fabric? I view the mentor/student relationship between McCain and Palin as perfectly normal but with Biden coaching Obama, don't we get another four years of Cheney and Bush?