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Schule > Englisch > Landeskunde > USA - Präsidenten > Obama vs. McCain

1) The presidential candidates

1.1 Barack Obama
His full name is Barack Hussein Obama Jr and he was born on 4th august 1961 in Honolulu in Hawaii. His father, a black Muslim, come from Kenia and his mother is a white American from Kansas. When he was 2 years old, his father left his family. 1965 Barack’s mother got married to an Indonesian collegian and moved with Barack to Indonesia. There, his half sister, Maya, was born. He has also more half brothers and sisters from his father. About his multicultural family he says: “Our family meetings look like an UN-plenary meeting.”
When Obama was 10 years old, he moved back to Hawaii and lived with his grad-parents. 1979 he graduated from the high school with honors. 1983 he became bachelor of arts at Columbia-University. In 1985 he moved to Chicago to work for a churchly organisation and help poor people. He got his juridical doctorate 1991 at Harvard. From 1993 to 2004 he worked as a lawyer in Chicago. He was a member of the senate of Illinois from 1997 to 2004 and in this year Barack Obama was elected US-senator of Illinois. At the moment, he is the only Afro-American senator in the USA.
He is married to Michelle Robinson and has two daughters.
Barack Obama is the democratic presidential candidate.

1.2 John McCain
His full name is John Sidney McCain III and he was born on 29th august 1936 in Panama Canal Zone. He has one sister and one brother. His grand-father and also his father were admirals at the United States Navy. After the Second World War his family followed his father for 6 years to different naval bases. In this period John McCain went to 20 different schools on military bases. 1958, he became bachelor of science at the US-naval academy and 1974 he graduated from the National War College.
From 1958 to 1981 he worked as a pilot for the US-marine. 1967 as a jet-pilot John McCain was shot down in Vietnam and captivated for five years. Then back , he tried to kill himself many times.
He was representative of Arizona at the House of Representatives from 1982 to 1987. 1986 John McCain was elected US-senator of Arizona and re-elected 1992, 1998 and 2004.
Now, he lives in Phoenix, which is situated in Arizona. He is married and the second time to Cindy Hensley. He has four own children, two daughters and two sons, and two adopted sons.
He is the republican presidential candidate.
2. The positions of the presidential candidates

2.1 Positions of Barack Obama
Barack Obama is against the Iraq War and claimed an as soon as possible retreat of the US-forces and negotiations with Iran, but now he wants to do it step by step and in co-ordination with the military.
He wants a national health insurance for all Americans and lower taxes for middle class. He is for the closing of the prison camp in Guantanamo. He wants, that illegal immigrants have the right of naturalization. Barack Obama demands that private ownership of weapons is stronger limited and controlled. He is of the opinion that gays should have the right to get married.
He doesn’t want to abolish the death penalty, but claims that child abusers are punished with it.
Besides that, Obama wants that teachers are paid according their performance, because, he says, if a teacher spend a lot of time in educating children, he should be reward for that.
He thinks that military interventions should only happen in agreement with the UNO.

2.2 Positions of John McCain
As opposed to Obama, John McCain doesn’t want to retreat the US-forces from Iraq and he also doesn’t want to negotiate with Iran. In this point, he thinks the same as George W. Bush.
Further, he is against a national health insurance for all Americans. But just like Obama he is for the closing of the prison camp in Guantanamo and for the right of naturalization for illegal immigrants.
He is against gay marriages, but he says, that every state should decide on its own, if gays should be allowed to marry or not.
McCain would like to forbid abortion, he thinks, that children, who aren’t born yet have even the right to live.
But he doesn’t join Obama’s opinion, that private ownership of weapons should be stronger limited and controlled. He says, that it is a fundamental right of the citizens to defend themselves.
Just as Obama he doesn’t think of abolishing the death penalty, on the other hand, he wants to enlarge its practise.
3. The presidential election 2008

3.1 The primaries
Concerning the Democrats they had to decide who will be their candidate for the presidential election. The election campaign was an exciting neck-and-neck race. Due to the result of the last vote Obama won the primaries of the Democrats.
Regarding the republican primaries there was a clear decision for John McCain.

3.2 The presidential election
It is very difficult to say who of the both, Obama or McCain, will win the presidential election and become next President of the USA, because of their position about some important political affairs.
The biggest problem for Obama was his position to the Iraq War. First he said, he wanted a quick retreat of the US-forces, but now he says, that he wants to do this step by step, if he will become president. Because of this change he disappointed a lot of his followers. A few say even, that they would rather stay at home, than to vote for him.
But some think that this could be even an advantage for him, because they don’t like the stolid character of Bush. They say, that Obama showed with this change, that he perceive his faults and think about other strategies.
Now, there is another big problem for Obama. The republican deputy president candidate, Sarah Palin, accused Obama of a fiendship with Bill Ayers, one of the founders of a liberal terror group. Barack Obama replied, that Ayers has been in this terror group and has dealed with detestable doings, when he, Obama, was eight years old. He adjudge the things, that Ayers did in his past. But now, he’s a professor at the University of Chicago and has nothing to do with any terror organisations.
Hari Sevugan, the speaker of Obama, dismissed this as a deflection of the problems of Palin and McCain because of the financial crisis.
McCain even wanted to interrupt his campaign to go to Washington to reach for an agreement among the congress and the cabinet. But Obama doesn’t consider to interrupt the election campaign. He says, that they have to work together to find a solution to this problem, because it isn’t a republican or democratic, it’s an American problem.
However, even McCain has trouble with the loss of followers. Conservative and religious people, who normally support the Republicans, think, that McCain is too liberal because of his opinion about gay marriage. They want that this sort of marriage must be forbidden in the whole USA.
Some people from his own party also don’t join his position about the right of naturalization of illegal immigrants.
Finally, it isn’t clear anyway who will win this election.

4. Conclusion
In my opinion, it would be better for the USA, that Barack Obama become president, even if he had changed his opinion about the Iraq War.
At least, he wants to retreat the US-forces from there. But if McCain become president, he wouldn’t change the situation about the War anyway.
I think, McCain’s opinion about pregnancy termination is too backward for a modern society.
The USA needs a younger president, who thinks more liberal and forward-looking and therefore Barack Obama would be even better than McCain.
5. Bibliography
http://www1.n-joy.de/njoy_pages_std/0,3044,OID649386_REF_SPC642128,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,534147-2,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,282694,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,561896,00.html
http://www.welt.de/politik/article1987658/Der_Showdown_Obama_gegen_McCain_beginnt.html
http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/uswahl/us-wahl-obama-haengt-mccain-ab_aid_312767.html
http://lernarchiv.bildung.hessen.de/sek_i/powi/themen/wahl_part/wahl_usa/index.html
http://www.zeit.de/online/2008/04/bg-wahlsystem-usa?from=left
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,563785,00.html
http://www.lpb-bw.de/uswahl/index.php
http://www.n-tv.de/Wahlen_in_den_USA_Die_wichtigsten_Termine/281220074816/897692.html
http://usa.usembassy.de/regierung-wahlen.htm
http://nachrichten.t-online.de/c/13/77/43/60/13774360.html
http://www.magazinusa.com/us/info/show.aspx?unit=politics&doc=86&dsc=Biographie_Barack_Obama
http://www.whoswho.de/templ/te_bio.php?PID=2973&RID=1
http://eins.scm-digital.net/show.sxp/4446_barack_obama__der_gelebte_amerikanische_traum.html
http://www.magazinusa.com/us/info/show.aspx?unit=politics&doc=87&dsc=Biographie_John_McCain
http://www.welt.de/politik/article1634045/John_McCain_die_neue_Achse_des_Boesen.html
http://www.whoswho.de/templ/te_bio.php?PID=2982&RID=1

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