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McCain, in Congress for 26 years to Obama's four, has the longer record of producing bipartisan alliances on tough issues. He has bucked his party again and again to do just that — on immigration, federal judges and campaign finance, to name three on which he enraged many Republicans by defying the party position and working with Democrats. McCain-the-maverick has reverted to party orthodoxy on taxes and other issues this year, which will put him in a bind if elected: Would he stick with those new positions, or compromise with the Democratic Congress he'd likely be working with?
As McCain points out on the campaign trail, Obama has a much thinner record of bucking his own party. With the exception of tough fights for ethics reforms in the Illinois Senate and in Washington — where he angered Democratic colleagues by insisting on the disclosure of lobbyists who bundle campaign donations — Obama has rarely challenged party dogma on the sort of big, contentious issues he'd face as president. As a U.S. senator, he has taken liberal Democratic positions on most issues. Studies by Congressional Quarterly show Obama has voted with his party almost 97% of the time, vs. about 85% for McCain.
Where Obama has diverged, it has often been rhetorical and reactive: After securing the nomination, he expressed disagreement with a Supreme Court decision that struck down the death penalty in cases of child rape, and he approved a decision that overturned a strict gun control law in Washington, D.C. He has signaled support for a modified form of affirmative action (extending it to poorer whites and denying it to better-off African Americans), and he has supported a key Bush initiative that funnels federal dollars to faith-based groups.
Obama's bipartisan accomplishments in Washington have been on significant, but relatively non-controversial, efforts to secure nuclear weapons and establish a federal-spending database. What he lacks is a record of challenging his own party on divisive, difficult issues — the deficit, immigration, energy — that he'd have to reach out to Republicans on if he's elected. Even with a Democratic majority in Congress, it takes 60 votes in the Senate to pass most major measures.
Finally, a media orgranization tells us what MOST of us already knew - Obama is full of BS on his "uniter" mantra.
Finally, a media orgranization tells us what MOST of us already knew - Obama is full of BS on his "uniter" mantra.
Did you see the "DEBATE" heading? It is a precursor for opposing opinions - and you will find a lot of them in that site. This whole thing is not as you presented it to be.
Our society, due to being obliterated with information on a daily basis, is quickly losing the skill to differentiate between an "Opinion piece" and "news". I'll admit that I am guilty of mixing the two sometimes too. But Sanrene, come on now ...
From the link: None of this is to say Obama couldn't turn into a consensus-building, party-challenging president. Based on their records so far, though, it takes a greater leap of faith to believe that of him than of McCain
I guess it depends how you look at the risk factor of either candidate.
For me, McCain has so many *other* liabilities that I can't seriously consider him.
As I've said before, I'm not totally in love with Obama, either, but he represents my views more than McCain (even before he picked Palin, who horrifies me.)
Obama has a certain amount of poise or aplomb or whatever you want to call it, and I think he can reach across social/political divides fairly well.
lol.....so Senator Obama's the uniter? Senator McCain's agrees with GW 90% of the time and Senator Obama 40%....sounds like we've got one Bipartisan and one Partisan in the room.
It's kinda hard to find such truthful pieces in the MSM, since they are in the tank for obama and don't wish to damage him in any way by pointing out his overblown rhetoric.
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