Mia Sullivan
Staff Writer
The Democratic National Convention used to be about naming a candidate. In 1844, James K. Polk, a mere presidential hopeful, was placed on the DNC ballot after calling for expansion into Texas and Oregon. He walked out of the convention as the Democratic nominee.
Barack Obama has already been declared the 2008 presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, with 1766.5 pledged delegates and 463 Superdelegates to Hillary Clinton’s 1639.5 pledged delegates and 257 Superdelegates. Thus, the DNC, which will take place in Denver Aug. 25 through 28, will instead transform into a forum for Obama to address the issues.
While the DNC is no longer the exciting inner-party candidate duel of the past, staunch Hillary Clinton supporters still have their fingers crossed.
Will Bower, co-founder of “Just Say No Deal,” is working to convince Superdelegates to support Hillary instead of Obama. Bower asserts that Obama should not be presumed the Democratic nominee until Aug. 28, the day the candidate will be officially determined.
Yet, to the dismay of Clinton hopefuls, Hillary is out of the race, and Obama has been attempting to win over white women, 60 percent of whom supported Hillary on Super Tuesday. It now comes down to Obama and McCain.
McCain’s pre-convention speeches focus on foreign policy, while Obama’s focus on the economy, according to an article in the Aug. 19 issue of the Wall Street Journal. One of Obama’s main premises is that the economy will improve if he is in office. But, can he fool the majority of Americans into believing that his proposed program, centering on drastic tax increases, will jumpstart the economy?
Peter Ferrara, the director of entitlement and budget policy for the Institute for Policy Innovation, says that Obama “proposes to raise marginal rates for just about every federal tax.” Individual tax rates will also increase immensely. For example, individuals in the highest tax brackets would have to pay 39.6 percent of their yearly income to the government, a 13 percent increase from the current tax rates.
My friend’s father told her that if Obama is elected, he will have to pay such high income tax rates that being in the workforce will no longer be worthwhile. This man is a hard worker — top in his field — and he vows to stop working for four years if Obama is elected, because it would not be worth his time and energy. This is not the mark of a progressive tax system or an improved economy.
Obama’s tax plan is inconsistent with the principle on which he supposedly desires to be president — to enable the American dream. The American dream is not about welfare handouts, it is about hard work and self-reliance.
Obama’s on-the-fence teetering is complemented by decreasing standing in the polls.
An Aug. 20 Rasmussen poll indicates that Obama is attracting 47 percent of the vote and McCain is attracting 46 percent. This decreasing margin between candidates may be linked to an uncharacteristically clumsy interview with evangelical minister Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life.” Both McCain and Obama appeared at Warren’s church in Lake Forest, Calif., on Aug. 16 to answer questions posed by Warren in front of his large congregation.
When asked why he wanted to be president, McCain said, “I want to inspire a generation of Americans to serve a cause greater than their self-interest.” Obama, on the other hand, rambled on about empathy and how his mother used to scold him for being mean or unfair to anyone, before stating his driving force as the desire to restore the American dream.
Furthermore, during this same interview, Obama deflected a question concerning abortion. While McCain stated that he believes a child is entitled to human rights at conception, Obama, not wanting to alienate any of his factions, answered without an answer. “I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade,” he said
I’m not a die-hard fan of either candidate, but I appreciate McCain’s direct, specific answer to Warren’s basic question, and I am offended by Obama’s stereotypically political non-answer. From his response, you would think that Obama has been in the political game for a long time (which we know is not the case for this junior senator).
At the upcoming DNC, Obama may be the determined Democratic nominee, but he will have to rely on his charisma to propel him ahead of McCain. His recent drop in popularity indicates that Americans are starting to look beyond his presidential facade and think about his stances.
08-25-2008