Quote:
Originally Posted by GTripp0012
Inherith lies the problem. Campaign promises are made on a hypothetical scale based on a lack of information (because as Senators, they aren't necessarily privy to the Top Secret level of information, stuff that could ultimately make or break any plan), and therefore are really not meant to be kept. I don't believe them to be an indicator of anything, and if they are, I would probably vote against all those plans.
The problem is that the voters aren't electing a set of issues, they are electing a man (or woman).
My personal intuition believes that McCain's experience and relatively bipartisan voting record gives him an advantage over the other two, but again, it's really just my intuition...and I of course have no facts to defend that with.
I think you did hit the problem on the head, is that, these Campaign Promises are all the voters have to work with when deciding who to align with, and that really isn't worth anything at all. Ultimately, when voting, we are pledging semi-blind alligence to our candidate. I know some Bush voters feel spurned by their allegiance to him, as is reflected in his approval rating, but that doesn't mean they voted stupid, it means they picked what seemed like the better candidate at the time--which in no way assures a positive result.
You can look at their voting record, but once a person is elected to the presidency, it seems like a lot of their beliefs change. Bush, for example, certainly adopted policies that were more to the left of traditional conservative once in office, and he beat McCain in the 2000 primaries because he ran as the more conservative of the two candidates.
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Well, honestly I don't know what level of Top Secret information one needs or is even privy to regarding domestic economic issues. It's no secret we're teetering on the brink of an economic recession. It's no secret that foreclosures are as high as they've been in recent years. Every time the Fed cuts rates, it chips away at the value of our beloved dollar. There's no end in sight to the current credit crisis, and prices of every day needs are rising. It's no secret that umployment just hit a 5 year high. This is very common information.
I'll take it a step further, in terms of secret information, all three candidates sit on various Senate Committees, which no doubt provide them great insight as to what's ailing the nation, but at the end of the day it's what they do with that available information is what will make the the difference. I would say the only area where "secret information" is THAT valuable is shaping foreign policy, and I'm not sure that's what we're talking about here.
In terms of McCain's voting record, again I beg to slighly differ. I don't think people will look at his voting record as that much of an indicator. Simply because he's changed his tone on a few issues since he ran the first time. Since then, many, even in his own party have aligned him with Bush's policies. But as it was mentioned in another thread (I forgot by whom), McCain has been in the Senate for so long, it's really unfair to nit-pick his voting record and come to any reasonble concuclusion about whether he's a viable candidate or not. Often times, in politics, your opponents use your voting record against you as a tool to make you look bad rather than what you are actually good at.