The Truth

Where is the Truth during this campaign? Here is a portion of the truth from this website:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/15/84829/6022/760/599280

• During the primary, McCain ditched every difference he had w/Bush to get nominated
• McCain went from voting with Bush for 90% of the last 8 years to 100% this year
• Many of McCain’s top campaign staff ran Bush’s campaign; his ‘town halls’ staged like Bush's
• The last time the GOP tried to package someone as a reformer during an election, it was Bush
• McCain never split w/Bush on Rumsfeld/Cheney, he said he would have hired them himself


• Obama bucked his party during the primary, opposing health care mandates, addressing the future Social Security solvency crisis, and advocating teacher merit pay
• Obama is endorsed by a long list of high profile conservatives and elected Republicans
• Not one high profile progressive or Democrat endorses McCain (CT Dems booted JL in 06)
• Obama bucked many of his own big donors during the primary to support the writers strike
• Obama worked across the aisle in the Senate with Republicans like Dick Lugar and Tom Coburn
• Obama pushed through strict ethics reforms against the will of many in both parties


• Obama has the strongest reform record of any candidate in modern history
• Obama pushed through the strongest ethics reform in his state for decades, The Gift Ban Act
• Obama pushed through the strongest ethics reform at the federal level in decades, The Lobbying and Ethics Reform Act, co-sponsoring and authoring numerous other reform bills
• McCain's single ethics reform accomplishment in 25 years is the McCain-Feingold bill
• McCain says he has never requested an earmark, but he asked for and received a $10 million earmark in 2006 and a $14.3 million earmark in 2003
• Obama pushed through a bipartisan bill making every earmark public knowledge


• Obama will cut taxes for 95% of Americans; his middle class tax cut is 3 - 8 times bigger than McCain’s according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center
• Obama’s budget adds up better than "we’ve seen in a Presidential candidate in a very long time"; his plan will leave 1.2 trillion dollars less debt than McCain’s (non-partisan TPC)
• McCain had to check with his staff when asked how many houses he owns and what kind of car he drives; he spends $250,000 a year on house servants alone


• US Troops overseas donated 6x more to Obama; our troops prefer his Iraq plan by 30 pts
• Obama always urged focus on Al Qaeda in Afg/Pak while McCain/Bush focused on Iraq/Iran
• Obama correctly predicted that invading Iraq would increase terrorism; Obama, alone among all candidates in urging focus on Pakistan last year, was vindicated by the recent turmoil there
• Non-partisan Disabled Veterans of America scorecard: McCain 20%, Obama 80%


• The Obama Presidential campaign is the first in living memory where average Americans own the biggest share: more than 50% of donations to Obama have been $25 or less, 80% have been $100 or less, and 93% have been $200 or less
• "You would have to go back a century and a half to name an incoming president with so few debts to repay"
• Obama and the DNC accept no federal lobbyist or PAC donations; McCain and the RNC do
• McCain has 133 lobbyists working for his campaign; his top staff is mostly DC lobbyists
• McCain got 10x more Top CEO donations than Obama in return for corporate tax breaks
• McCain's flip in favor of drilling was rewarded immediately with big donations from oil execs


• Obama has served 12 yrs at the federal and state level (4 yrs US Sen + 8 yrs IL Sen)
• Obama co-sponsored 15 bills that became federal law and co-sponsored 570 bills
• Obama sponsored 823 bills and cast over 4000 votes in the IL Senate
• Obama, a Constitutional Law Professor for over 10 yrs, would be the first to become President
• Obama spent 3 years as the executive in charge of a budget that went from $70K to $400K while serving as a local community organizer in Chicago
• Obama had 80 editors under him as President of the Harvard Law Review
• Obama's runs a campaign with over 2000 employees, more than the White House staff
• Obama got an International Relations specialty in college, later served 4 yrs on Sen Foreign Rel
• Obama's combined time either in public service, studying foreign policy, or directly pertaining to Constitutional Law adds up to twenty-five years, as long as McCain has been in office
• Obama’s record of experience is more diverse and in touch with America than McCain’s, as Obama understands how things work at the local, state, and federal level; McCain has zero local or state experience, with all his experience in office taking place in Washington DC