Citizen Tom

 John Sidney McCain III

What does the campaign website of a political candidate exist to do?  Although the technology is still quite new, we can already describe the typical campaign website.  The usual campaign website provides:

• The candidate’s biography and pictures of his family.
• The candidate’s position on the issues (at least in general terms).
• A contrast with the opponent’s position on the issues (or the opponent himself).
• Lists the endorsements of important people and organizations.
• Links to allied blogs.
• An appeal for YOU to help the campaign.
• Sales information on campaign paraphernalia.
• A site to accept donations.

Are there still new ideas for campaign websites?  Every year technology advances.  So every election candidate websites have new opportunities for innovation.  This year video technology is taking center stage.  Thanks his shifting positions as he supposedly positions himself for the general election, McCain’s web crew was having fun with Barak Obama himself.  McCain’s lead video was about Obama flip-flops on Iraq  (see here).  Now McCain’s web crew is having fun with the news media.  Their latest video documents the news media’s love affair with Obama (see here).  What a riot!  What is funnier is that because hundreds of thousands will see this video on the Internet, the news media has had no choice except to respond to it — and to give the video even more publicity.

Nonetheless, the primary subject of McCain’s website remains John McCain.  Supposedly, McCain does not talk much about his experience as a POW, but the story is headlined on his website.  In fairness, this seems appropriate.  McCain served 22 years in the Navy, five years as a POW.  Since his lead issue is national defense, his military experience and the commitment he has made to our nation’s defense should logically be front and center.

So what is the character of McCain’s website?  When I spoke of Obama’s website, I characterized it as divisive (see here).  Does Obama intend to be divisive?  I doubt it, but what he proposes will pit us against each other.  Do McCain’s proposals have a similar prevailing theme?

Where Obama promises vast, sweeping programs to ensure “fairness”, McCain tends to pander.  On defense issues, McCain is confident.  On economic issues, McCain tries too hard.  So it is that while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fought their prolonged battle, McCain worked out his 15 page Jobs For America.  Some of this is good.  Some of it is just plain silly and wasteful.  

What does McCain’s plan include?  Here are some examples.

• A summer gas tax holiday.  This comes from a man who believes in global warming, does not want our money to go to dictators, and thinks it important to balance the budget. 
• A repeal of the 54 cents per gallon tax on imported sugar-based ethanol and roll back corn-based ethanol mandates.  These are actually good ideas.  The corn-based ethanol mandates contribute to the rising cost of food, and the tax on imported sugar-based ethanol decreases competition.
• Bail out for “financially strapped mortgage borrowers”.  This is bad idea and such foolish legislation is moving through Congress now (here).  McCain wants to replace bad loans with FHA guaranteed HOME loans.  The borrowers and the lenders need to work this out without government interference.
• Balance the budget by 2013, the end of his first term.  What?!!!  Why wait that long?
• Reform entitlement programs — somehow.
• Keep taxes low.
• Banned Internet taxes.
• New tax credits.
• Simplify the tax system.  New tax credits will simply the tax system?
• Make health insurance more portable and provide the tax subsidy for health insurance to the individual.  Currently, it is for the company.
• And so forth.

Lots of McCain plan is nonspecific.  Some of it is quite specific.  For example, McCain supports nuclear power plants and coal.  There is a reason that we have not built a nuclear power plant for years.  That issue will cost McCain votes, and he will have to fight relay teams of lawyers to build anything.  He will have similar problems with coal-fired power plants.

One interesting idea is a 300 million prize for a practical battery powered car.  I am not certain exactly how this car would insure our energy independence, but I guess we could charge the batteries with coal-fired electric power plants. 

Okay, maybe maybe coal-fired electric power plants would pollute too much.  Perhaps, if the environmentalists will let us build them, we could use windmills. 

McCain also offers his health care schemes in this plan.   He makes a bunch of promises.  Fortunately, with his health care plan, medicine stills stays in the private market.  McCain will just add more regulations.  With more government regulations, the cost will just go down.  Right?  Actually, with McCain’s plan, the cost just might go down.  That depends on how serious McCain is about making medical insurance portable.  Currently, most of us get medical insurance through our employers.  If instead of employers, the health insurance tax break goes directly to consumers, we may find it possible to shop around more.  That just might reduce costs. 

So which website do I like best?  When I look at Obama’s website, I cringe.  When I look at McCain’s website, I do not breath a sigh of relief, but McCain does have a record, and his promises are more restrained and credible.

McCain is certainly not the most liberal senator in the Senate.  McCain panders, but he does not support such abominable nonsense as hate crimes legislation (see here).  McCain makes a laundry lists of promises and pursues votes with tax holidays and bail out proposals.  Nevertheless, the tone of his website suggests he just engaging in the traditional American political idiocy of promising a chicken in every pot.  Herbert Hoover, unfortunately, made similar promises (see here), but the Franklin Roosevelt did not learn anything.  His “economic reforms” probably prolonged the Great Depression, and many of Roosevelt’s dumber regulations were eventually scrapped.

Some voters insist that government do more than just protect their rights.   Some voters are so naive they think government can take care of them.  Regardless what McCain promises, these voters will most likely vote for Obama’s Utopia.  

What too many people cannot get through their heads is that government can only regulate the economy.  Only Americans can make America work.  Unfortunately, instead of promising to get government off our backs (what Ronald Reagan did), McCain sometimes forgets to be humble.  Instead, with silly promises he tries reassure foolish voters that with a McCain presidency, he can guarantee they will still have food on the table and a roof over their heads.   In fact, he promises more, but all McCain should promise us is that he would work to make it easier for us to help ourselves.

This is the fourth post in a series on the 2008 election candidates (from the perspective of Gainesville, Virginia).  Here are the earlier posts.

• DOES DISASTER LOOM BEFORE US?
• ELECTION 2008 CANDIDATE PROS AND CONS: CANDIDATE WEBSITES
• ELECTION 2008 PRO AND CONS: BARACK OBAMA WEBSITE REVIEW

Other Views

Below The Beltway comments on the internation nature Barack Obama’ campaign (here).

VB Dems reviews Obama’s choice of tourist destinations (here).

QandO documents a prominent endorsement for Obama (here).

The Shad Plank spreads the message about news media’s love affair (here).

Raising Kaine calls McCain’s claim false (here).  Good news!  A vote for Obama is a vote for off shore oil drilling and oil wells in ANWR.

Bearing Drift provides a link to a Leiberman interview on McCain’s candidacy (here).

From On High provides an interesting perspective on Obama’s trip to Iraq (here).