Ameritocracy

As promised, right now, on election day, is part two of our roundup of the candidates’ statements on the issues.

TERRORISM

BARACK OBAMA

“The war against terrorism began in [Afghanistan] and that’s where it will end.” (view details)
“The consequences of defeat would have been increased Iranian influence. It would have been increase in sectarian violence. It would have been a wider war, which the United States of America might have had to come back.” (view details)

JOHN McCAIN

“The central front in the war on terrorism is in Iraq.”(view details)
“We’ve spent over $600 billion… soon to be $1 trillion. We have lost over 4,000 lives… seen 30,000 wounded, and most importantly, from a strategic national security perspective, al Qaeda is resurgent, stronger now than at any time since 2001.”(view details)

THE BUSH LEGACY

BARACK OBAMA

“But the record’s clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time.”(view details)
“Senator McCain and President Bush suggested that it wasn’t that important to catch bin Laden right now and that we could muddle through, and that has cost us.”(view details)

JOHN McCAIN

“Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago.” (view details)
“Do we share a common philosophy of the Republican Party? Of course. But I’ve stood up against my party, not just President Bush but others, and I’ve got the scars to prove it.” (view details)

DIPLOMACY

BARACK OBAMA

“But we are also going to have to, I believe, engage in tough direct diplomacy with Iran and this is a major difference I have with Senator McCain.” (view details)
“We’re not going to defeat terrorist networks that operate in 80 countries through occupation of Iraq. We’re not going to deny the ambitions of Iran by refusing to pursue direct diplomacy along side our allies.” (view details)

JOHN McCAIN

“Let me say that we obviously would not wait for the United Nations Security Council. I think … both Russia and China would probably pose significant obstacles.”(view details)
“I have proposed a league of democracies…a group of countries that share common interests, common values, common ideals, [and] control a lot of the world’s economic power. We could impose significant meaningful, painful sanctions on [Iran]…” (view details)

SECURITY

BARACK OBAMA

“Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity.” (view details)
“For the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.” (view details)

JOHN McCAIN

“There are some areas where the statutes don’t apply, such as in the surveillance of overseas communications. Where they do apply, however, I think that presidents have the obligation to obey and enforce laws that are passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, no matter what the situation is.”(view details)
“Senator Obama was wrong about Iraq and the surge, he was wrong about Russia when they committed aggression against Georgia, and in his short career he does not understand our national security challenges.” (view details)

THE RUNNING MATES’ ON THEIR OPPONENTS

JOE BIDEN

“When John McCain proposes $200 billion in new tax breaks for corporate America, $1 billion alone for just eight of the largest companies, but no relief for 100 million American families, that’s not change; that’s more of the same.” (view details)

SARAH PALIN