A brief analysis of Mccain vs. Obama acceptance speeches

Recently, Republican Presidential nominee John Mccain gave his acceptance speech at the National Republican convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. One of the themes of his political speech was ironically “change”; the term used so often to summarize his opponent Barack Obama’s campaign. This speech followed about a week after Barack Obama gave his speech accepting his presidential nomination. In many ways both speeches had a lot of points in common and it seemed like their basic idea about many issues was approximately same. Although there was not a major emphasis on policies by either candidate, there were subtle differences in views regarding the substantial issues of Tax-cuts, Energy crisis and Healthcare and Social security between the two Presidential hopefuls.
If we look carefully through the Mccain’s speech, he claims that – “we believe in low taxes, spending discipline, and open markets.” This has always been the ground principle of the Republican Party. He also says that he will make the Government work alongside US citizens and make sure that it does not come in their way to prosperity. Less Government involvement and free market system implies that the rich will become richer, and the poor would be left to eat dirt. His policy seems to be based on the hope that prosperity among the top 20% of the economic strata would trickle down to the bottom 80% and would lead to an economically prosperous nation. The same policy has not worked for the last 8 years under the Bush administration and the odds against it working for the next 4 are gargantuous. On the other hand, Obama’s Tax cut policy seems to fair much better for the lower 80% in US society’s economic strata. According to an article in by Martin Crutsinger in Star Tribune, Mccain’s tax cut policy brings down the taxes for the top 1% by $48,860, the middle 20% (the average middle class) by a measly $325 and the bottom 20% by a shocking $21. In contrast, Obama’s tax cut policy increases the tax for the upper 1% by $93,709 on average but decreases the taxes for middle class by $ 1,118 and for the lower 20% by $567. According to this piece of information, Obama’s tax cut plan seems much better in contrast to Mccain’s for the citizens in the bottom 80% of US economic strata. It also seems like Obama’s tax cut policy is also aimed at relocation of wealth among different economic classes of American society so that the gap between the rich and poor can decrease. Another critical aspect of John Mccain’s tax cut policy is that it will increase American national debt to around 13 trillion dollars by the end of the next decade, while Obama’s policy will increase it to around 11 trillion dollars. After all this information, the rational choice seems to be to go with Obama’s Tax cut policy. And despite all this, Presidential candidate John Mccain claims in his speech that – “I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent would raise them.” It seems like he is articulating his policy to just the top 1% of US’ economic strata.
The energy crisis is another big issue and is supposed to play a major role in the outcome of the election by many experts. In his acceptance speech, Barack Obama states his energy plan as - “I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.” In his speech, Barack Obama displays that he is ready to end US dependence on foreign oil and has an energy plan that emphasizes on Alternative fuel. Looking at the global issues of Global Warming and resource management, Obama’s plan seems to be pretty good in tackling these issues. John Mccain briefs on his energy plan in his speech and the only difference in his plan seems to be the project of offshore drilling which, according to him, would end US dependence on foreign oil and “will” bring down oil prices. According to an article in the website commondreams.org, offshore drilling is not a real solution to US energy crisis. It’s not even a short term solution. US possesses about 3% of world’s total oil reserves and has 25% worldwide consumption. At this rate, we will run out of resources pretty soon. And Mccain’s energy plan is exactly hinting at that catastrophic situation. Lack of resources mean a weak nation and if a nation is weak, national security (Mccain’s area of expertise) is a lost cause.
Another major issue that will play a big role in the upcoming Presidential elections is Healthcare and Social Security. Although Mccain does not articulate his exact healthcare plan, although he does hint that it would consist of minimum government involvement. Same goes for his Social Security plan. He seems to be leaving a lot on the free market to decide. Markets fluctuate, and it seems that taking a risk on Healthcare and Security is a bit rash. As Senator Obama responds to John Mccain’s Healthcare policy, he states – “No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.” In this quote, he summarizes John Mccain’s Healthcare and Social Security policy pretty accurately. If America goes by Mccain’s policy on Healthcare and Social Security, it would lead to public exploitation by corporations and because it was the government who made the policy, people’s trust in the American government will dip further.
Thus, after analyzing the two speeches and concentrating on the specific issues of Tax cuts, Energy dependence and Health Care and Social Security, we can conclude that Barack Obama has a better laid out plan than his political counterpart. Mccain’s plans are pretty similar to those being applied during the Bush administration and there is not even a hint of “change” he talks about anywhere in his propaganda.
 
Works Cited
"Barack Obama’s Acceptance Speech." 28 August 2008. Newyorktimes. .
Crutsinger, Martin. "Obama, McCain economic plans rely on tax cuts, but in sharply different ways." 8 September 2008. startribune. .
"Finding the Truth: A Response to President Bush’s June 18, 2008 Speech." 18 June 2008. commondreams. .
"John McCain’s Acceptance Speech." 4 September 2008. Newyorktimes. .