John McCain vs. Barack Obama resume comparison
Political Resumes:
The following is to show how incomparable the nominees’ resumes are. John McCain is qualified and experienced. Obama has accomplished nothing in his life besides winning elections.
John McCain (condensed version):
Graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958
McCain requested a combat assignment so he could put his life on the line for his country despite the fact that there was a strong chance he would lose his life.
While on a bombing mission over North Vietnam, he was shot down, badly injured, and captured as a prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war for 6
years.
McCain was almost killed on July 29, 1967 when he was at the epicenter of the Forrestal fire. He escaped from his burning jet and was trying to help another pilot escape when a bomb exploded
The North Vietnamese wanted release McCain to make it look like to other POWs that elites like McCain were willing to be treated preferentially. McCain said no and was tortured horribly for turning down release. This shows he is able to put his country before himself.
Commanded a large squadron of ships
US congressman for 26 years
He is a Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee.
Member of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs.
Showed an ability to negotiate with people who disagree with him by joining Senator Feingold to pass Campaign Finance Reform despite fellow republicans claiming the bill was not conservative enough. He showed he could put his country before his party allegiances. This is something Barack Obama has never done.
He spearheaded the line-item veto bill.
Chairman of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee
He stood up against Rumsfeld’s Iraq strategy despite resistance from his party. The change in strategy that resulted is credited for major progress made in the war.
Worked with many democrats to stop the disastrous Harriet Miers nomination by George Bush. His actions led to the appointment of Roberts and Alito. They are two of the strongest constitutionalists on the court.
Spearheaded legislation to stop torture of prisoners of war
Spearheaded legislation against Bush and the rest of his party including HMO reform, climate change, and gun legislation
Spearheaded an effort to reduce spending.
Spearheaded effort to stop earmarks. He has been nicknamed the sheriff for the amount of earmarks that he has stopped.
He has voted with his party only 63% of the time showing he is willing to put the country ahead of political parties.
Barack Obama (expanded version):
Did cocaine and marijuana in his youth.
State senator for 7 years.
Here is a list of his accomplishments while he was in the state senate:
Voted “present” 130 times rather than actually voting to represent his constituency on issues like partial-birth abortion, gun control, and the prohibition of strip clubs.
(the end of accomplishment list)
US Senator for less than one term:
Senate Foreign Relations Committee member, but has yet to attend a meeting on Afghanistan.
Has not spearheaded ANY legislation.
Voted with his party 97% of the time according to an independent study (the highest percentage of any senator).
Comments
Posted by: Nic
Posted on: July 1, 2008 08:29 PM
Wow. That was really convincing, despite the fact that your credibility is very low with me considering you are a partisan institution
Posted by: Chad
Posted on: July 2, 2008 10:42 AM
You can look up all of that information. Everything on there is true.
Posted by: Trev
Posted on: July 2, 2008 12:00 PM
Of the 129 bills that Obama has sponsored since entering the Senate in Jan, 2005, only one has become law. Clinton has sponsored 354 bills since Jan, 2001, and two have become law. McCain has sponsored 403 bills since Jan, 1997, and twelve have become law.
Maybe journalism isn't your thing buddy.
Posted by: Chad
Posted on: July 2, 2008 01:40 PM
Sponsoring a bill is one thing... anyone can put their name on a bill. I am talking about leading the charge on a bill. Barack Obama has not spearheaded any bills yet.
Posted by: James
Posted on: July 7, 2008 08:28 AM
I am just sad that fellow Republicans could not pick a better candidate that can win in November.
Posted by: Chad
Posted on: July 8, 2008 05:29 PM
I voted for Romney... but McCain is significantly better than Obama.
Posted by: Japan
Posted on: July 9, 2008 12:00 AM
Nice write up, interesting read!
Posted by: James
Posted on: July 9, 2008 08:43 AM
How can it be interesting. Condensed versus expanded. I would appreciate a willingness to show both the pros and cons of either candidate. At least show some faults with both.
Or how would you argue McCain in front of his conservative base which is not altogether behind him?
Posted by: jim
Posted on: July 9, 2008 01:02 PM
I found this to be extremely one sided. Who cares what someone did I the past. The past is the past. Are country is falling apart. We should not be looking in the past at who did what. We should learn form the mistakes and move on. It is the guy who is looking to change the future and were we are heading that should be president. We should be talking about what each candidate stands for or were they are heading. It is up to you to decide who will make the better changes for our future.
Posted by: Chad
Posted on: July 9, 2008 04:03 PM
Leadership is CRUCIAL when it comes to facilitating change. If someone has never led ANYTHING, why should I vote for him to lead the free world?
Posted by: James
Posted on: July 10, 2008 02:36 PM
Does that mean that McCain was not qualified to run in 2000 being a U.S. senator versus President Bush who was the former Governor of Texas?
Or you mean that we should pick a presidential candidate who has a thorough understanding of the corrupted Washington establishment?
Posted by: Learn Spanish in Mexico
Posted on: July 11, 2008 08:27 AM
Good read. thanks.
Posted by: Cash Advance Tips
Posted on: July 12, 2008 02:24 AM
In term of experience, McCain is more qualified
Posted by: marco benavides
Posted on: July 18, 2008 05:49 PM
I am interested in staying as informed as possible about the political situation in the US. I am especially interested in determining how the next US president, Democrat or Republic, will affect relations with Costa Rica. I am an expat, living in Costa Rica, and good trade relations between Costa Rica and the US will really benefit me.
Posted by: Beth
Posted on: September 17, 2008 11:22 AM
Come on! Yes Obama might have made some bad decisions, but potentially i think he would be a great leader. we have all screwed up...
Posted by: too smart
Posted on: September 17, 2008 07:46 PM
What kind of education does one get at a military academy? McCain seems to know nothing. Give me a Harvard lawyer any day.
Posted by: Chad
Posted on: September 17, 2008 09:42 PM
Apparently you never knew anyone that went to the naval academy... it has one of the highest flunk out rates in the country. I know very smart people that have flunked out of there.
Posted by: Robert
Posted on: September 18, 2008 05:05 PM
It seems that some of the folks bloging are not very educated in politics. Change yes, but what kind of change and who is best suited to get it done.
I agree with some readers re: wanting to see more info. A good read all the same. Thx!
Posted by:
Posted on: September 26, 2008 07:27 PM
This is a douche bag column...
Posted by: Your mom
Posted on: September 26, 2008 07:35 PM
this is a douche bag blog!!!
Posted by: Jana White
Posted on: October 8, 2008 02:20 PM
Hey Nic,
Are you going to argue any of the facts? You have no substance or is it that the truth isn't on your side.
Jim,
Maybe you should run since someones past or intelect doesn't matter. I guess that statement makes any Native born citizen a good candidate or at least worthy of your vote.
or
Beth,
"Vote for Obama because we're all screwed up" are you in the advertising business? If so do you have a card?
Posted by: Maxine
Posted on: October 24, 2008 12:58 AM
It seems to me that some people want to believe that McCain may be more qualified just because he has been exposed to politics for a longer period of time. Meanwhile Obama seems to be a very decent man, something america is just not in tune with. The way I see it, any ounce of blackness in a persons blood in the eyes of some people makes him less qualified. How shallow minded can you be? It like saying that you need a babysitter and you prefer to leave your one and only child with some elderly white woman who has done a bang up job with her own 15 children who have all gone astray rather than leave your child with the black registerd nurse who only has one child with a descent record. You would rather use the excuse of saing that one is more qualified and endanger your childrens future. I feel sorry for this country. Like it or not they too hung up on prejudicial behavior.
Posted by: Chad
Posted on: October 27, 2008 10:56 AM
If you think this about race... you are mistaken. I proudly voted for Ken Blackwell for governor in Ohio.
Posted by: Andrew
Posted on: October 27, 2008 05:49 PM
Your some how "proud" of this writing?? Wow, there are a lot of people who are not as closed minded as you seem to be. Thank God for independent thinkers.
Posted by: toddag
Posted on: October 27, 2008 09:18 PM
Look at Obama's real resume at http://obamasresume.org/
By the way, McCain graduated 895th out of 899 in his class. And in all fairness, if you are going to mention Obama's drug use as a youth, you should mention his cheating on his first wife with Cindy.
Posted by: toddag
Posted on: October 27, 2008 09:24 PM
Oops! too many pronouns in the previous post I should have said:
...And in all fairness, if you are going to mention Obama's drug use as a youth, you should mention McCAIN cheating on his first wife with Cindy, his current wife.
Posted by: toddag
Posted on: October 27, 2008 09:24 PM
Oops! too many pronouns in the previous post I should have said:
...And in all fairness, if you are going to mention Obama's drug use as a youth, you should mention McCAIN cheating on his first wife with Cindy, his current wife.
Posted by: alexandra
Posted on: October 27, 2008 09:34 PM
Nicely worded to convince weak minded folks. Bring a real argument with logic and reasoning, not advertising skills.
Posted by: Carol
Posted on: October 30, 2008 07:21 PM
I read obama's resume and it was very fascinating. As a recruiter I can say that his resume has some real gaps and gaffs. It doesn't reflect a person with a clear vision of the future but rather a person with no initial direction. At some point he finished his undergrad (not clearly stated) and worked in industry briefly and then moved to 'organizing'. there is even a category 'Organizing and other work...' ... what?? but guess what, after getting his law degree his activities in organizing ended. Sounds like he was filling time until he got that degree. Oh and he was in Washington for less than 2 years and decides to run for pres? What??? After a brief stint as a writer, a 5 years organizing, 7 years in Ill gov. & a few months in Washington. What? We are supposed to entrust our government and economy to a neophyte? (an economy in turmoil that would press even an extremely experienced public servant).
Of course his plan for the middle class is a real change. Everytime one of them speaks the definition of middle class changes. Is it 250k, 200k, 150k or some other magic number. The middle class will disappear because it will be redefined out of existance.
Posted by: Carol
Posted on: October 30, 2008 10:26 PM
Here are a couple of urls about obama's resume. The first is an article from the Jerusalem Post about obama: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1218710381368&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
And the next article is about obama’s resume and has commentary from some co-workers from the 80s:
http://sweetness-light.com/archive/did-obama-turn-down-a-wall-street-career
Posted by: Wayne Bibbens
Posted on: November 3, 2008 07:45 AM
IF the past doesn't matter, I will vote for Charles Manson. He is the best public speaker in a long time, he is for Change and Hope. He is completely reformed he says.
Let's vote for Charles Manson, because the past simply doesn't matter.
Wayne
Posted by:
Posted on: November 3, 2008 05:54 PM
lol thats i got 2 say
Posted by:
Posted on: November 4, 2008 02:58 PM
Past performance is nearly always the best predictor of future behavior.
To reiterate some posts above - Do any of you Obama supporters have solid reasoning for supporting him or refuting any of the claims made in the original article?
To the people that automatically assume race is the primary motivation not to chose Obama, you need to take a good look in the mirror to define racism. Or, you could go to Jeremiah Wright's church....
Posted by: jeff
Posted on: November 4, 2008 11:44 PM
get over it...Obama is your new president...and that's pretty good resume material!!
Posted by: jeff
Posted on: November 4, 2008 11:46 PM
add President of the United States to Obama's resume...