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Elections Impacts
Elections Impacts
Obama Good
Elections Impacts........................................................................................................................................................1
Elections Impacts...........................................................................................................................1
Obama Good- Asian Relations....................................................................................................................................3
Obama Good- Asian Relations......................................................................................................3
Obama Good-Free Trade.............................................................................................................................................4
Obama Good-Free Trade..............................................................................................................4
Obama Good- Soft Power...........................................................................................................................................5
Obama Good- Soft Power.............................................................................................................5
Obama Good- Soft Power Cont..................................................................................................................................6
Obama Good- Soft Power Cont....................................................................................................6
Obama Good- Soft Power Cont..................................................................................................................................7
Obama Good- Soft Power Cont....................................................................................................7
Obama Good- Soft Power Cont..................................................................................................................................8
Obama Good- Soft Power Cont....................................................................................................8
Obama Good- Soft Power Cont..................................................................................................................................9
Obama Good- Soft Power Cont....................................................................................................9
Obama Good- Economy............................................................................................................................................10
Obama Good- Economy..............................................................................................................10
Obama Good- Economy Cont...................................................................................................................................11
Obama Good- Economy Cont.....................................................................................................11
Obama Good-Economy.............................................................................................................................................12
Obama Good-Economy...............................................................................................................12
Obama Bad- Pakistan................................................................................................................................................13
Obama Bad- Pakistan..................................................................................................................13
Obama Bad- Economy..............................................................................................................................................14
Obama Bad- Economy.................................................................................................................14
Obama Bad- Military Readiness...............................................................................................................................15
Obama Bad- Military Readiness................................................................................................15
Obama Bad- Space....................................................................................................................................................16
Obama Bad- Space.......................................................................................................................16
Obama Bad- China....................................................................................................................................................17
Obama Bad- China......................................................................................................................17
McCain Good- Economy..........................................................................................................................................18
WNDI 2008 2
Elections Impacts
Global sentiment is firmly behind Barack Obama for US president. IN KENYA, he is a superstar. The French
rate him almost three to one ahead of his rival. Australians, Britons and Japanese think he is at least twice as
good. Even people in the Middle East put him narrowly in front. But how will the world react if Barack Obama
loses the November election? This US presidential race has rapt global audiences like few before it. The prospect of
a black man, son of an immigrant, defying prejudice and the political establishment to capture the most powerful job
in the land makes for the kind of amazing story to inspire new confidence in America. No doubt such renewal is
badly needed. The superpower's image has been battered during the George Bush years. The shambolic
election in 2000 injected poison into the boastful democracy. A proud military tradition was diminished by a
disastrous invasion of Iraq, squandering the great outpouring of global sympathy after the September 11
attacks. America's legal heritage was debased by prison horrors in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, while
Washington's dismal response to hurricane Katrina only served to compound opinion polls showing global respect
for America at near record lows. Obama promises to turn views around. "I want to use all elements of American
power to keep us safe, and prosperous, and free. Instead of alienating ourselves from the world, I want America -
once again - to lead." People believe. Obamamania, as dubbed by pundits, has spread across the globe.A 23-country
survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project last month found more confidence in Obama to do the right thing in
world affairs than in his Republican opponent, John McCain. Obama has been burnishing this favour this week on a
whirlwind tour with stops in Afghanistan and the Middle East, and across Europe. And yet the international rapture
is all for nought if Obama fails to win the White House. What will the rest of the world think of the US if their
favoured candidate is rejected by Americans? Will the country's international standing slide even further down the
scale? "His defeat would certainly engender a great deal of disappointment," says Harvard University professor
Joseph Nye. A widely respected foreign affairs expert and one-time Democratic administration official, Nye
believes "soft power" is one of America's greatest assets. The appeal of a country's values, society, and culture
- whether a democratic tradition, a legacy of immigration, television, movies, fashion or food - contrasts with
so-called "hard power", mostly linked with bombs, aircraft carriers and marines. "The election of Barack
Obama would do a great deal to increase American soft or attractive power," says Nye. "His background and
career embody many of the more positive and optimistic aspects of the US as a land of openness and
opportunity."
WNDI 2008 6
Elections Impacts
Customarily in presidential races, Americans seek a patriarchal figure, a strong parent to protect the house
from invaders and financial turbulence. But with Barrack Obama this dynamic seems reversed. He seems
more like a child prodigy. Those enraptured with his gifts urge him on, like anxious parents, trying to pull that
sustained, dazzling performance out of him that they believe he's capable of; they are willing to put up with the
prodigy's occasional listlessness and crabbiness, his flights of self-regard and self-righteousness. Despite his uneven
efforts and distaste for the claws of competition, they can see he is a golden child, one who moves, speaks, smiles
and thinks with amazing grace. His advisers and fund-raisers have pressed him to go fortissimo. Many voters with
great expectations are hovering, hoping for a crescendo. Except for panicked Clintonistas, everyone seems eager to
see if the young pol can live up to his potential. Responding to his more combative style, the press has relaunched
him, giving him a second chance to shine, on this week's cover of Time, in the pages of The New Yorker, in the up
arrow of Newsweek, which now declares him ''poised to be the comeback kid,'' and at The Times, where young
female assistants lined the halls on Wednesday to watch him glide into a second meeting with editorial board writers
and editors. In The Atlantic, Andrew Sullivan lays out what he sees as Obama's ''indispensable'' capacity to
move the country past baby-boom feuds and the world past sectarian and racial divides. ''It's November
2008,'' he imagines. ''A young Pakistani Muslim is watching television and sees that this man – Barrack
Husain Obama-- is the new face of America. In one simple image, America's soft power has been ratcheted up
not a notch, but a logarithm.''
WNDI 2008 7
Elections Impacts
Whether the next United States President is Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or John McCain, one of his or
her key foreign policy challenges will be deciding on the approach of the US towards East Asia in the coming
decades. Notwithstanding the serious challenges the US currently confronts in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is only
in East Asia that there is potential for a great power conflict if strategic policy is mishandled. East Asia's
current regional system has successfully promoted peace and prosperity for three decades. One of the key
features of this system, though, is US pre-eminence. This will change in the coming decades with the rise of new
great powers most obviously China, but also Japan and India and perhaps Indonesia and Russia as well. Yet US
strategic policy towards East Asia often seems narrowly focused on the possibility of military conflict with
China, and the need to maintain technological superiority. On one level, this is understandable. China's defence
budget is expanding by 12 per cent a year, and it is investing heavily in capabilities like a blue-water navy to blunt
the US edge. The US 2006 Quadrennial Defence Review stated that China, among the "major and emerging powers
[has] the greatest potential to compete militarily with the United States." But viewing China solely as a military
competitor is a problem for US allies like Australia, who want to maintain good relations with both the US and
China. It also focuses on only one aspect of the strategic challenge facing the US in East Asia. Joseph Nye and
Robert Keohane first distinguished between "hard" and "soft" power. Hard power refers to military capabilities, and
the ability to use threats or rewards to get others to do what they otherwise would not. Soft power "is the ability to
get desired outcomes because others want what you want. It is the ability to achieve goals through attraction rather
than coercion." With the exception of Japan, China has arguably been winning the soft power contest in East Asia in
recent years. China has worked to settle many territorial disputes. It has pursued a more substantial role in regional
organisations. Its leaders have made many visits throughout the region, typically concluding an economic or
financial deal during each visit. China makes the case, too, that it stood by its neighbours during the Asian financial
crisis, with the clear implication that the US and the International Monetary Fund did not. China's soft power
strategy is reaping dividends. In Thailand, a recent poll showed that more than 70 per cent of the population believes
that China is now Thailand's most important external influence. US commentator Robert Kagan has written that, "A
superpower can lose a war ... without ceasing to be a superpower so long as potential challengers inspire more
fear than sympathy among their neighbours." However, in East Asia the US potential challenger has worked hard
to inspire sympathy and develop mutual interests. The importance of this transition cannot be underestimated. In
1995, China was viewed as a threat to regional stability when it occupied Mischief Reef in the South China Sea,
which is also claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines. A decade later, Donald Rumsfeld warned China's neighbours
about its growing defence budget, and was largely ignored. At his first meeting with President Bush, Kevin Rudd
presented him with the book, The Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power is Transforming the World. The author
argues that China has successfully pursued a doctrine of "win-win" relations, and contrasts this with the US
approach, which is overly demanding and disrespectful of national sovereignty. Rudd was making a vital point. If
the US loses the soft power contest in East Asia, and a majority of countries in the region come to prefer
Chinese hegemony over US hegemony, US superiority in hard power will count for less and less. Nye, who
served in a Democrat Administration, has revisited the concepts of hard and soft power with Richard
Armitage, who served in a Republican Administration. Together, they have developed the concept of "smart
power", an integration of hard and soft power into a single strategic policy. It would be naive to suggest that
hard power does not have a role to play. But the concept of smart power better recognises the sophisticated
balance that the US needs in developing its long-term strategy for East Asia. As Nye and Armitage suggest,
the position of the US as the lone superpower is unlikely to last forever. The US must find ways of leveraging
its current power into arrangements that continue to promote stability. Embracing a smart power strategy
would also have domestic benefits for the next US President, allowing him or her to move beyond the partisan
divisions that have marked much of George Bush's time in office.
WNDI 2008 8
Elections Impacts
Andrew Sullivan, Staff Writer for The Sun Times, “The New Face of America”, December
16, 2007, Lexus Nexus Academic Search.
At its best, the Obama candidacy is about ending a war -not so much the war in Iraq, which will continue into the
next decade -but the civil war within America that has prevailed since Vietnam and has crippled the country at the
very time the world needs it most. It is a war about war -and culture and religion and race.And in that war, Obama
-and Obama alone -offers the possibility of a truce. The divide Obama promises to overcome is still between
those who fought in Vietnam and those who didn't, and between those who fought and dissented and those who
fought but never dissented at all. The schism never went away. In fact it intensified during the Bill Clinton sex
scandals in the 1990s, was deepened by the rise of the religious right, was ratcheted up by the bitterly divisive hung
election of 2000, and worsened by the Iraq war. It is the great, paralysing red-blue divide that still rips America
apart. Americans know this battle hurts only themselves, but they cannot get past it. Obama might allow them to.
What does he offer? First and foremost: his face. It could be an effective potential rebranding of the United
States. Such a rebranding is not trivial it's central to an effective war strategy. The war on Islamist terror,
after all, is two-pronged: a function of both hard power and soft power. We have seen the potential of hard
power in removing the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. We have also seen its inherent weaknesses in Iraq, and
its profound limitations in winning a long war against radical Islam. The next president has to create a
sophisticated and supple blend of soft and hard power to isolate the enemy, to fight where necessary, but also
to create an ideological template that works to the West's advantage over the long haul. There is simply no
other candidate with the potential of Obama to do this. Consider this hypothetical scenario. It's November
2008. A young Pakistani Muslim is watching television and sees that this man -Barack Hussein Obama -is the
new face of America. In one simple image America's soft power has been ratcheted up exponentially. A brown-
skinned man whose father was an African, who grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii, who attended a majority-Muslim
school as a boy, is now the alleged enemy. If you wanted the crudest but most effective weapon against the
demonisation of America that fuels Islamist ideology, Obama's face gets close. It proves them wrong about
America in ways no words can.
WNDI 2008 9
Elections Impacts
The Canberra Times, Austraila, “US needs to use smart power, not hard power”, April 18
2008, Final Edition, Lexus Nexus Academic Search.
In the op-ed "US needs to get smarter" (April 16, p15), Dave Peebles mentions that Kevin Rudd presented President George W.
Bush with the book “China's Soft Power is Transforming the World.” Bush is effectively a lame-duck President with
little time, let alone ability, to make foreign policy changes to deal with the rise in China's soft (ie influence)
power. I therefore hope that Rudd had three extra copies with him for those US presidential aspirants who hope to succeed Bush
and therefore may actually be able to do something. Of the three, the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain, may be
in most need of the book. His policy on Iraq shows that he still thinks predominantly in terms of hard (ie military)
power. Luckily, both of the Democratic contenders, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, realise that the US cannot
base its influence on military power alone. A US that can be positively engaged in East Asia with smart power,
taking advantage of its military presence as well as its considerable economic and cultural influence, will be in
the best interests of powers in the region. Mike Hettinger, former chairman, Democrats Abroad Australia Mbeki's
role Your editorial (April 16) is correct in stating that the President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, must shoulder
much responsibility for the continuing crisis in Zimbabwe. His failure to condemn Robert Mugabe's gangster tactics
has undoubtedly given Mugabe the momentum which he had lost following the recent elections. Perhaps Mbeki,
who is no longer the ANC leader, nor likely to retain the country's presidency for much longer, is not in a position to
speak bluntly to Mugabe. If so, then it is the duty of the African Union to come to the rescue of the people of
Zimbabwe and condemn Mugabe's brutal tactics unreservedly. Sam Nona, Burradoo, NSW Zimbabwe no joke The
present Australian ambassador to Zimbabwe and his partner are long- standing neighbours and good friends of mine.
The ambassador is a person with great skills in tact and diplomacy the kind of person I want to have representing me
in other countries. Robert Mugabe is a problem for all liberal democrats a band ever dwindling in number, given the
loss of hard- won freedoms we have suffered in the name of fighting terrorism. Mark Latham lost Labor an election;
Tony Abbott and Alexander Downer contributed to the recent loss of the Howard government. It is clear that many
Australians rejected the ideas, attitudes and behaviour of all four politicians. Jack Lonergan suggests we should now
inflict them on the poor people of Zimbabwe as if sending a triad of second-rate politicians will somehow assist with managing
Mugabe. Can we leave the professional diplomats to get on with the job we ask them to do? The further we keep our politicians
from this process the better served both Australia and Zimbabwe will be.Maureen McInroy, Hue, Vietnam Female bishops The
comment that the new female Anglican bishop will not be accepted in Sydney ("Anglicans name first female bishop", April 12,
p3) reminds me of a story doing the rounds in South Africa at the height of apartheid. A black man was thrown out of a white
church. He got down on his knees and prayed, "Lord, they won't let me into your Church." The answer came back, "They won't
let me in either."
WNDI 2008 10
Elections Impacts
1. If elected, Obama’s economic plan will kill fiscal discipline because of earmarks.
The Washington Times, “Obama, McCain Economics”, July 11, 2008 h Lexus Nexus
Academic Search.
This week, Barrack Obama and John McCain touted their economic plans. If we take
them at their word, Mr. Obama's plan could stifle initiative and perpetuate the current
economic downturn. Mr. McCain's would unleash American dynamism, if he overcomes
the lack of credibility his party has in restraining spending and limiting government. Mr. Obama's "An
Agenda for Middle-Class Success," differs from the "trickle-down" Republican
economic philosophy that he believes only helps the wealthy. His initiative ostensibly
has a "bottom-up" approach. In reality, Mr. Obama’s descending approach empowers
the state to make decisions for free-thinking Americans. This is proof that he fails to
understand that wealth is not created by more big government. Despite his call for
change, Mr. Obama's agenda consists of more government programs and lots of fuzzy
math. Mr. Obama wants to "jumpstart economic growth and create jobs" by enacting a $50 billion stimulus
package. He also wants to eliminate income taxes on retirement income. In other words, he favors more
spending and a tax code that grants an entire class of people an exemption. This is socialistic - the
redistribution of wealth according to the whims of legislators. Mr. Obama promises that all families making
less than $250,000 per annum will not pay higher taxes. He even pledges to give middle-class families a
$1,000 tax cut. Yet, he has also stated that he will increase the capital gains tax from its current level of 15
percent to at least 20 percent (he has not settled on an exact figure, it may be higher). This will indeed mean a
tax increase for all Americans who sell an investment. Mr. Obama does not adequately explain
how he will be able to prevent other tax increases, given the many new government
programs he proposes. He will spend money on infrastructure repair, college tuitions,
matching funds to encourage savings and universal health-care. He states that he will
pay for these programs by cutting earmarks and with funds saved when the Iraq war
ends. Yet he has no track record of resisting earmarks: He has already voted for
billions of dollars in earmarks. It is also unclear when or how the Iraq war will end - and whether or
not those funds that might be saved and may be needed for other military operations (such as in Afghanistan or
in Iran, for example). Hence, we know that he will spend taxpayer money, but not exactly how he will pay for
these expenses. Mr. Obama's economic agenda belies his liberal view of the state as all-seeing and all-
knowing. Rather than empowering Americans, he will end up burdening citizens with higher taxes, increasing
regulation and creating more unaccountable bureaucracies to administer his numerous meddlesome initiatives.
Mr. McCain, on the other hand, is attempting to revive the people's faith in a more
conservative economic philosophy. The Arizona senator does not want to impose any
more burdens on small businesses, such as health mandates. He also promises to keep all of
George Bush's 2001 cut taxes. He is proposing a gas-tax holiday, cutting the estate tax and reducing corporate
tax rates. He has stated he will also double the child deduction. He wants to expand free trade agreements to
generate jobs; he has repeatedly promoted free trade with Colombia. He also promises to veto bills
with wasteful spending and to balance the budget by the end of his first term. In other
words, he wants to restore fiscal responsibility and allow Americans to generate their
own wealth: "All you've ever asked of government is that it stand on your side, not in
your way." Mr. McCain's economic plan consists of merging both the supply-side economics that were used
with success by Ronald Reagan and the deficit-hawk philosophy that has been a staple of conservative thought.
Yet, in reality, he may not be able to sustain both cutting revenue by cutting taxes and also balancing the
budget. He has an even greater problem: Republicans have lost their credibility as custodians of low spending
and limited government.
WNDI 2008 11
Elections Impacts
Obama supports regulation of the economy’s alternative energy by use of the cap-and-
trade system
Dipka Bhambhani, GNC Management Staff Regulator, “Obama claims Democratic nomination as McCain
faults him on energy policy”, June 9th 2008, Lexus Nexus Academic Search.
Senator Barrack Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination last week, ending a grueling, 17-month battle with
Senator Hillary Clinton. But even before Obama appeared at a rally in St. Paul, Minnesota, to lay claim to his
party's nomination, Senator John McCain, the Republicans' presumptive presidential standard-bearer,
attacked him on energy policy and a range of other issues. In a speech in New Orleans on Tuesday, McCain blasted
Obama for voting for the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which McCain said helped put the country in an energy crisis by giving tax
breaks to the oil industry. "I opposed [EPAct 2005] because I know we won't achieve energy independence by repeating the
mistakes of the last half century," the Arizona senator said. "That's not the change we can believe in," he added, referring to
Obama's campaign catch phrase, "Change we can believe in." McCain also sought to distance himself from President Bush,
saying he backs mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions that are blamed for global warming. McCain also said that he
would not cater to special interests, as he said Obama would. McCain invited Obama to participate in a series of town-hall-style
debates that would be staged across the country, saying they could even fly to the events together. The McCain Campaign told
Platts Thursday that Obama had accepted the invitation, and that the dates and locations will be worked out. Both Obama and
McCain have said that the US must combat global warming by instituting mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions from
power plants, oil refineries and other industries. According to his campaign Web site, Obama supports
implementation of a market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by
2050. Notably, Obama has called for all emission-reduction allowances to be auctioned off to the highest
bidder, as opposed to being allocated to electric utilities and other industries for free. That differs from
McCain, who maintains that some allowances should be allocated to industry for free in order to soften the
impact on the economy. McCain said his system would invoke entrepreneurship and creative thinking. If a utility can "invent,
improve, or acquire a way to reduce their emissions, they can sell their extra permits for cash," he said in a statement. "The profit
motive will coordinate the efforts of venture capitalists, corporate planners, entrepreneurs, and environmentalists on the common
motive of reducing emissions," McCain said. McCain and Obamaalso differ on the subject of nuclear energy. Obama supports
nuclear power, but he has said he does not support building the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Obama's
home state of Illinois has 11 nuclear power facilities, and he has expressed concern about waste from those and other plants being
shipped to Yucca through Chicago, a major transportation hub and the third-largest city in the US.
WNDI 2008 12
Elections Impacts
Obama Good-Economy
Obama key to stop American economic recession
Adam, Nagourney. 7/8/08. The International Herald Tribune. Candidates vulnerable on economy;
Obama and McCain try to retool strategy; ELECTIONS 2008. Lexis.
Both candidates plan to spend this week focusing almost entirely on the economy. But both face political problems
with the issue. McCain, the Arizona Republican, has been shadowed by his statements earlier in the campaign that
he is not expert in the subject of the economy and by the likelihood that voters will associate him with the economic
policies of the Bush administration. He has embraced President George W. Bush's stands on central issues like tax
cuts and trade policy. Obama, Democrat of Illinois, has had difficulty connecting with working-class voters, and
his more ambitious responses to economic problems like expanding access to health insurance would be paid
for in part by tax increases, always a risky proposition politically. The two campaigns are retooling strategies and
preparing for what aides said would be months of economic speeches, town-hall-style meetings on the economy and
economic proposals, both new and repackaged - testimony to how the campaigns view the electoral environment.
''We are going to spend the rest of the summer talking about jobs, energy and health care,'' said Charlie Black, a
senior adviser to McCain. He said McCain would prefer that the campaign focus on national security, given his
credentials in that area, ''but that's just not the way the world works.'' It appears likely that activity on both sides will
involve appearances notable more for their political symbolism - and attacks against the other side - than any
attempt to come up with ideas for dealing with the problems. McCain will probably continue to attack Obama for
supporting tax increases, and Obama is likely to portray McCain's views as an extension of Bush's economic
policies. McCain is set to announce Monday morning that 300 economists are endorsing his economic proposals,
which include tax cuts, expanded trade and a pledge to veto bills with earmarks, or spending inserted by lawmakers
to benefit a specific project. His aides said the endorsements, mostly by conservative economists, would help him
establish his credentials in this area. McCain will spend the week talking about job creation in hard-pressed
battleground states, a contrast with his decision to spend last week in Latin America, a move that even some of his
allies said risked having him seem unconcerned with the problems at home. McCain's aides said he would talk this
week with voters, often in intimate settings, about their economic problems, in the hope of coming off as more
empathetic than Obama. He will attack Obama over his support for raising taxes and his opposition to lifting the
ban on offshore oil drilling and suspending the gasoline tax for the summer, positions also highlighted in an
advertisement by the Republican National Committee that started running Sunday in closely contested states.
McCain will also renew his attempt to draw contrasts with Obama on trade by focusing on Obama's opposition to
some trade deals that McCain said would help the economy, as he did in Colombia last week. McCain has repeatedly
argued that raising taxes in a weak economy would have disastrous consequences and asserted that his plan for long-
term tax cuts - the centerpiece of his economic program - would solve the short-term economic problems. But,
McCain's aides said, he will not offer any significant new economic programs or ideas. Black said the campaign
was counting more on the contrast with Obama on tax cuts than on Obama's problems relating to working-class
voters. Obama has filled his schedule with relatively intimate appearances in which he will talk to voters about the
souring economy and how it affects them. Winning the support of working-class voters is a major test for Obama
heading into the fall, especially in swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. Since the spring, Obama has been
speaking much more specifically about the economy and how his plan would address the problems -
mentioning, for example, his proposal for a fund to help avoid mortgage foreclosures - as he has moved away from
urging more government regulation of lenders. He has called for two more rounds of economic stimulus packages,
in the form of rebate checks, to help the economy and consumers deal with rising gasoline prices, and his campaign
criticized McCain on Sunday for refusing to support such measures.
WNDI 2008 13
Elections Impacts
Anne Davies, Herald Coorespondant in Washington, “Obama Says He Would Strike Inside
Pakistan”, The Sydney Morning Herald, Aug 3rd 2007, Lexus Nexus Academic.
Barrack Obama, the 2008 Democratic presidential hopeful, has called on the US to pull out of Iraq and focus on
the real sources of terrorism: Afghanistan and Pakistan, including unilateral military action in Pakistan if
necessary. Senator Obama argued that if the Pakistani Government failed to eradicate terrorist operations inside its
borders, the US should withhold aid and strike al-Qaeda targets there itself. "If we have actionable intelligence about
high-value terrorist targets and President [Pervez] Musharaff won't act, we will," he said, in a foreign policy speech
to the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington on Wednesday. "I understand that President
Musharaff has his own challenges, but let me make this clear: there are terrorists holed up in those mountains who
murdered 3000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again." Senator Obama criticised the US President, George
Bush arguing that he was giving the terrorists what they wanted - an expensive and protracted war. "The President
would have us believe that every bomb in Baghdad is part of al-Qaeda's war against us, not an Iraqi civil war," he
said. "It is time to turn the page. When I am president, we will wage the war that has to be won with a
comprehensive strategy with five elements: getting out of Iraq and on the right battlefield in Afghanistan and
Pakistan; developing the capabilities and partnerships we need to take out the terrorists and the world's most deadly
weapons; engaging the world to dry up support for terror and extremism; restoring our values; and securing a more
resilient homeland." A spokeswoman for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, Tasnim Aslam, refused to respond directly
as Senator Obama was not the US President. She added: "These are serious matters and should not be used for point-
scoring. Political candidates and commentators should show responsibility." The Bush Administration last week
tried to smooth a row with Islamabad over threats to act against al-Qaeda in Pakistani territory. The US said it had
full respect for Pakistan's sovereignty, although it reserved the right to act. Political analysts interpreted Senator
Obama's speech as a pointed message to his presidential competitors: that he will not accept being portrayed as weak
or inexperienced. His main rival for the Democrat nomination, Hilary Clinton as presented herself as an
experienced, practical moderate on foreign relations. The two clashed during last week's YouTube debate, when
Senator Clinton said he would be prepared to talk to leaders of rogue states. Senator Clinton was more circumspect,
calling his foreign policy views "naive" and "irresponsible". This prompted Senator Obama to label her approach
"Bush-Cheney lite". Senator Clinton responded to Senator Obama's latest comments by stressing that if there was
actionable intelligence showing Osama bin Laden or other prominent terrorist leaders were in Pakistan, "I would
ensure that they were targeted and killed or captured". She also said that she has long favoured sending more troops
to Afghanistan. However, other Democratic candidates took issue with Senator Obama's tough talk. The
Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, said that his threat, if acted upon, could inflame the entire Muslim
world. "My international experience tells me that we should address this issue with tough diplomacy first
with Musharraf and then leave the military option as a last resort," he said.
WNDI 2008 14
Elections Impacts
Obama wins the election, his radical economic policies will send the United States into
depression, causing other countries to fall as well such as Canada.
Theo Caldwell, Staff Writer for The National Post, “Bad On Trade = Bad For Canadians”,
March 4th 2008, Lexus Nexus Academic Search.
It is difficult to overstate the severity of the hosing Canadians will experience if Barrack Obama becomes
president of the United States. The foremost way in which the callow Senator from Illinois would snatch the
double-double from our Timmy's is evident in his attitude toward trade. In pursuit of blue-collar primary votes in
Wisconsin and Ohio, and in defiance of the fact that U.S. manufacturing jobs have been declining since 1979,
Obama has effectively scapegoated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for job losses,
promising to revisit, and perhaps withdraw from, the treaty. Slapping tariffs on Canadian exports would hurt
folks on both sides of the border. (Does Obama suppose that duties on American exports will actually revitalize the
U.S. manufacturing base?). The same organized labour groups that clamour against NAFTA (or any free trade deal,
really) would do far better to encourage a cut in corporate tax rates, assuming their ambition is to bring back jobs.
Such a move in the United States would prompt similar action in Canada, helping all of our workers. But this is not
in Obama's playbook. Whether Canadians know it or not, his election would hit us squarely in the wallet. Here
is a simple truth with which Canadians should acquaint themselves: Republicans are generally free traders;
Democrats, not. Since two Republican presidents and one Conservative prime minister effected the Canada-U.S.
free trade agreement in 1989, trade between our two countries has tripled. Bill Clinton's acceptance of NAFTA in
1993 remains a heresy to many in his party -- including his wife and her rival for the Democratic presidential
nomination, Obama. But trade is only one aspect of Obama's abysmal agenda. His misbegotten economic and
foreign-policy prescriptions matter, too. He plans to raise taxes across the board -- doubling capital gains,
increasing inheritance taxes to 55%, and hiking income taxes to such levels that Americans could see
marginal rates at the 65-70% range of the bad old days. The American economy is already facing a recession;
with Obama's help, a full-on depression is achievable. And as the American economy goes, so does that of
Canada. There is much talk about Obama as the agent of "hope" and "change," and his energy and youth have
prompted comparisons to John F. Kennedy. But JFK understood the value of letting businesspeople do business,
within and across borders. Kennedy's tax cuts were larger than those of any president since --including Ronald
Reagan and George W. Bush -- resulting in higher tax receipts for years, and buoying the North American economy.
From a broader perspective, consider Obama's threats to invade Pakistan, negotiate without condition with
Cuba and Iran, and cut off exports from China. "Hope," indeed! One hopes Obama does not mean a word he
is saying. He is Jimmy Carter without the foreign-policy acumen. We have all dodged a bullet with the collapse of
Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign (but expect to see her screeching back in 2012, like Glenn Close
coming out of that bathtub). The big-government, high-tax protectionist notions that animate Hillary's political
philosophy, however, are still part of this presidential contest, and they are embodied by Obama. This is not good
news for Canadians, however compelling they may find Obama to be. For various ideological reasons, Canadians
most often identify with the Democratic candidates in American presidential contests. As Barrack Obama
prepares to hobble America's economy, close its borders to trade and legitimize our shared enemies,
Canadians ought to reconsider their outlook.
WNDI 2008 15
Elections Impacts
Obama wants to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which will hurt military
readiness.
Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center of Military Readiness, “Gays and the
military; Democrats prefer San Francisco-style”, Jan 3rd 2008, Lexus Nexus Academic
Search.
Democratic presidential candidates want to impose the full weight of San Francisco-style liberal
ideology upon the armed forces. You would never know it, however, given the silence or equivocation of
Republicans on military social issues. As noted in this space yesterday, the Center for Military Readiness has
been conducting a non-partisan survey to determine where the presidential candidates stand on military
issues affecting discipline and morale. Candidates who did not respond to survey questions, including all the
Democrats, missed an opportunity to proclaim sound, responsible priorities for the military. Previous
statements, however, indicate that any Democrat winning the White House would turn the Pentagon into a
laboratory for social experimentation by civilian ideologues. These include feminists and homosexualists -
determined activists who demand government power to impose the homosexual agenda on all institutions of
American life. Democrats condone the pure feminism of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton defined by the issue of women in land combat. In
2005, then-House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, California Republican, spearheaded legislation to restore Army
compliance with Defense Department regulations exempting female soldiers from placement in or near direct ground combat (infantry)
battalions. Mrs. Clinton and feminist colleagues countered with a resolution framing this as a feminist issue, which encouraged the Pentagon to
continue violating regulations and laws requiring congressional notice and oversight. Unauthorized, incremental repeal of women's exemptions
from land combat will eventually affect the Marine Corps and Special Operations Forces, forcing them to cope with predictable consequences:
gender-normed training standards to create the illusion of equality, higher injury rates, pregnancies, and disciplinary issues that hurt readiness and
morale. Eventually, ACLU lawyers will file another lawsuit challenging young women's exemption from Selective Service registration. With
women in land combat, the ACLU will win. Parents whose daughters are denied college loans for failure to register will wonder why these issues
were not debated in 2008. They should know that Mrs. Clinton, Sens. Barrack Obama of Illinois and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, and
former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina favor Selective Service registration for young women, or participation in mandatory national
service. Mr. Obama is being advised by former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig, an outspoken advocate of
women serving on submarines. If an Obama administration mandates "career opportunities" for female
sailors on cramped submarines, which operate with constantly recycled air that elevates risks of birth defects,
submarine commanders may have to disrupt undersea missions by conducting hazardous mid-ocean
evacuations of pregnant sailors. Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware strongly supports the Convention to Eliminate
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), an international treaty that would surrender sovereignty to international
bureaucrats on all issues involving women - meaning, just about everything. Mr. Biden and other senators have
demanded hearings on military sexual misconduct and "violence against women," as defined by anti-male feminists.
None has recognized an underlying problem: policies pretending that servicemen and women are interchangeable,
"ungendered" beings actually encourage scandals and violence against women, provided that the enemy inflicts the
violence in close combat. All of the Democratic candidates want to repeal the 1993 law stating that
homosexuals are not eligible to serve in the military, which is frequently mislabeled "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Congress rejected "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," then-President Clinton's proposal to accommodate discreet homosexuals,
as unworkable. Mr. Clinton imposed it on the military anyway with administrative regulations inconsistent with the
law. In a June 2007 debate, Mrs. Clinton admitted that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was supposed to be a "transitional
policy" toward full acceptance of professed homosexuals in uniform. To avoid political consequences for colleagues
in Congress, any Democratic president would likely push for quick repeal of the 1993 law, without public hearings
or debate. That would force the military to follow the "civil rights" model, mandating equal housing and
social status for homosexual military couples. "Sensitivity training" programs would enforce acceptance of
known homosexuals in the ranks. There will be no "national security" benefits, since numbers of homosexual
discharges have been small in comparison with separations for other reasons, such as pregnancy, weight
standard violations, or drug offenses. Add to this scenario public resistance that would hurt recruiting,
potential abuse of subordinates living in close quarters, plus higher risks of HIV infection, which increase the
numbers of non-deployable personnel. The result will be unprecedented disciplinary problems that detract
from morale and readiness. We cannot afford a San Francisco military. In 1992, Republicans helped Mr.
Clinton to win by not debating this issue - in the same way that some Republicans are avoiding the issue today. Will
a presidential leader emerge who is prepared to defend the culture of the only military we have? The one who does
so first could become president of the United States.
WNDI 2008 16
Elections Impacts
Paul Kane, Staff Writer for the Washington Post, “Candidates Earmarks Worth Millions; of
Frontrunners, McCain Abstained”, Feb 14 2008, Lexus Nexus Academic Search.
Working with her New York colleagues in nearly every case, Clinton supported almost four times as much spending
on earmarked projects as her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), whose $91
million total placed him in the bottom quarter of senators who seek earmarks, the study showed. Sen. John McCain
(Ariz.), the likely GOP presidential nominee, was one of five senators to reject earmarks entirely, part of his
long-standing view that such measures prompt needless spending. As a campaign issue, earmarks highlight
significant differences in the spending philosophies of the top three candidates. Clinton has repeatedly
supported earmarks as a way to bring home money for projects, while Obama adheres to a policy of using
them only to support public entities. McCain is using his blanket opposition to earmarked spending as a regular
line of attack against Clinton, even running an Internet ad mocking her $1 million request for a museum devoted to
the Woodstock music festival. Obamahas been criticized for using a 2006 earmark to secure money for the
University of Chicago hospital where his wife worked until last year. The new report, by Taxpayers for
Common Sense, is the first to show all the earmarks each lawmaker added to spending bills for an entire
fiscal year. It notes the explosive growth of the practice, which amounted to more than $18 billion in fiscal
2008. Stung by criticism of earmarks, President Bush and an increasing number of lawmakers have started to
campaign against their use. In his State of the Union address last month, Bush vowed to veto any spending bills for
2009 that do not cut back on earmarks, and 22 House members have sworn off seeking them. While most are
Republicans, Democratic Rep. Henry A. Waxman (Calif.), a key committee chairman and close ally of House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), joined yesterday. "Congressional spending through earmarks is out of
control," he said. Lawmakers previously were allowed to include multimillion-dollar items in spending bills without
publicly identifying themselves as sponsors. House and Senate Democrats passed measures last year that require
open sponsorship of earmarks. Though they still make up a tiny fraction of the federal budget, earmarks remain a
multibillion-dollar business on Capitol Hill. Congress added 12,881 earmarks, worth $18.3 billion, to spending
bills that Bush signed into law, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense. That is a 23 percent drop from the
record level of earmarked money for fiscal 2005. Democrats used their new majority to secure 57 percent of
total earmarked money in fiscal 2008. Members of both parties even supported a $4.5 billion pot of earmarks.
"An increasing number of individual members recognize that a moratorium is needed until significant
reforms are made to the earmark process," Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a longtime earmark opponent, said
yesterday.
WNDI 2008 19
Elections Impacts
CAMPAIGN 2008
MEXICO CITY - Democrats have derided John McCain for taking his free-trade message last week to
meetings with the presidents of Colombia and Mexico instead of the factory floors of Michigan and Ohio,
swing states where protectionist attitudes prevail, but the shift of venue was intentional.
McCain, who has repeatedly said that economics is not his strength, has unapologetically embraced free
trade. But, demonstrating an approach that advisers say fits into a broader set of contrasts with his
opponent's approach to international affairs, McCain is increasingly making the case to Americans that
trade should be considered foremost as a national security concern.
"They're two different issues, but they're certainly linked in the eyes of our allies there," said McCain strategist Charlie Black, who noted
that the trip offered an opportunity for McCain to address both at once while flanked by heads of state. "It shows him on the world stage
talking confidently about international issues."
Two weeks ago, McCain visited Ottawa to trumpet his support for the North American Free Trade
Agreement. Targeting Colombia and Mexico on last week's trip, McCain selected two countries that have
recently elected conservative leaders in a region that has been drifting left. In both places, McCain praised
local governments for their efforts combating drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.
McCain has presented the Colombian Free Trade Agreement, which remains stalled in Congress
because of Democratic opposition, as a plum for the regime of President Alvaro Uribe, who has
aggressively targeted the FARC, a guerrilla group whose activities have been funded by kidnappings and the
cocaine trade.
On Tuesday, Uribe briefed McCain on highly classified details of a mission scheduled for the next day to rescue hostages, including
three Americans held by the FARC.
Ratifying the trade pact would "help an ally that's standing up in a courageous way to prevent the drug trade ... and provide a strategic
counterpoint to Hugo Chavez," said Black, referring to the leftist Venezuelan president. Senator Barack Obama has said he would be
willing to meet Chavez, provoking outrage from McCain.
"I certainly think that the government and people of Colombia should be rewarded for their sacrifices
and their efforts," McCain told reporters in Cartagena, Colombia, on Wednesday, as the hostage rescue was
taking place. "America could have no better ally than President Uribe. It is irresponsible for the
Congress not to come to his aid and his support."
Both the Colombian pact and NAFTA remain highly controversial domestically, particularly in the industrial states where McCain has
said that he intends to target working-class voters, including Democrats and union members who supported Hillary Clinton during the
primaries.
Obama opposes the Colombian agreement and said that he supports the decade-old NAFTA, but would threaten to abrogate it as a means
of exerting leverage over Canada and Mexico to add greater labor and environmental protections.
"Senator John McCain's trip to Colombia and Mexico is yet one more example of how out of touch he is with working families," John
Sweeney, AFL-CIO president and an Obama supporter, said in a statement. "Working people have seen bad trade deals send
their jobs overseas and decimate their communities, yet McCain enthusiastically supports the proposed
US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement and celebrates the effects of NAFTA."
McCain, however, is speaking less about the economic benefits of free trade and instead trying to place it in a broader critique of
Obama's foreign policy, contrasting the Democrat's willingness to negotiate with American adversaries with his disinterest in
collaborating with friendly countries.
"The first step is to start to repair our image with some of our allies before we can begin to repair our image with those we disagree
with," said John Brabender, an unpaid media adviser to McCain's campaign.
"I am disappointed at the suggestion that the United States should unilaterally reopen NAFTA," McCain
told a business luncheon in Mexico City, after meeting privately with President Felipe Calderon on Thursday. "If there are issues that
exist between our countries whether it be the United States, Canada, and Mexico, or other nations with whom we have engaged and
ratified treaties the best way to do that is not in a unilateral fashion, but mutual respect of sovereignty of our respective nations."
McCain's attempt to emphasize the security benefits of free trade could be a hard sell: even advocates for expanded trade say that these
days economic arguments are resonating most strongly, particularly as the weakened dollar has strengthened domestic producers and
exporters.
"The United States is going through a slowdown, so the economic issues are coming up more and more," said Carolina Barco Isakson,
Colombia's ambassador to the United States, who has been lobbying members of Congress to support the agreement.
No candidate in recent memory has made such broad support for free trade as central to his campaign
as McCain. Those presidents who pushed for lowering the barriers to international commerce, Bill Clinton and both George Bushes,
were far more ardent free traders once they reached office than they had presented themselves when seeking it.
By allying himself with free-trade agreements, which are negotiated by administrations and then subject to congressional approval,
McCain is assuming a White House posture, according to analysts.
WNDI 2008 23
Elections Impacts
Paul Thompson, Staff Writer for The Evening Standard, “A vote for McCain will take US
into recession”, July 8th 2008, Lexus Nexus Academic.
Obama has warned the American people they face further economic misery if they vote McCain into the White
House. With the US sliding into recession, Mr Obama firmly linked the Republican candidate to President
Bush. He said the tough times ahead for Americans would continue. "If you are satisfied with the way things are
going now, then you should vote for John McCain" said Mr Obama "If you think that we need a fundamental change
then we have a clear choice in this election and we've got to seize it." With the economy set to be a key issue for
voters in the November election, Mr Obama emphasised that he offered the only chance to change the economic
direction the country was taking. "It is not inevitable that we continue these tough times," he said. The
Democratic presidential candidate said the country must adjust to the globalised economy, better train and
educate its children, make certain there was "a real energy policy", and invest in roads and bridges. "Help is
on the way," he told supporters in Charlotte, North Carolina, in a conference call from St Louis. He had planned to
give the speech in person but his flight was forced to make an emergency landing due to mechanical problems
yesterday..
Liz, Sidoti. 1/26/08. Associated Press Worldstream. McCain faces challenge as presidential
race shifts from national security to economy. Lexis
Republican presidential candidate John McCain planned to meet with the Dalai Lama today in a show of
solidarity with the Tibetan spiritual leader and as a rebuke to China's treatment of the people he
represents.
"I've been a great admirer of the Dalai Lama, " McCain told reporters Thursday while campaigning in Ohio,
calling the Dalai Lama "a transcendent international role model and hero."
McCain's remarks come two weeks before the start of the Beijing Olympics.
In recent months, China has imprisoned hundreds of Tibetans who held marches for greater autonomy
and freedoms. China took Tibet by force in 1951, burning hundreds of Buddhist temples and killing
many clergy.
The Dalai Lama, the head of the faith in Tibet, went into exile in 1959 and has waged a campaign for
decades in the West to have China loosen its grip on his region. He remains an immensely popular
figure among the Tibetan people.
The Dalai Lama is attending a symposium in Aspen, Colo., on his homeland's culture. His planned meeting
there with McCain comes four months after the Dalai Lama sent him a letter thanking him for his
"concern" over the Chinese military crackdown in Tibet.
Support for Tibet and opposition to China's stifling of dissent are two points of agreement on foreign
policy between McCain and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Both have said that if they
were president, they would boycott the Aug. 8 opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics.
The White House announced July 3 that President Bush would attend the opening ceremonies. Bush said on
July 6 that he has often talked about religious freedom and human rights with the Chinese, and "I don't need
the Olympics to express my concerns."
Bush said a boycott would have been an "affront" that may have made it harder to "speak frankly with the
Chinese leadership."
The Dalai Lama was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in October in a ceremony attended by the
president. China issued a statement lashing out at Bush for taking part in the honor.
Regarding U.S. policy with China, McCain has said that he supports cooperation on "a wide variety of
strategic, economic and diplomatic fronts," but that Chinese leaders need to understand that "in our modern
world, how a nation treats its citizens is a legitimate subject of international concern."
Michael Green, former top Asia adviser in the Bush administration, said he doubted that McCain would use
the meeting with the Dalai Lama to bash China.
Green, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the McCain meeting and Obama's
comments should send a message to China that Tibet will be an important issue to the next president
WNDI 2008 28
Elections Impacts