Comparison of Obama and McCain on Moral Character

Despite all of the flaws of the Saddleback Faith Forum, it still reveals the moral character of the presidential candidates. In life, every person has to answer the questions of "What is my mission?" and "Who am I?". Is life about seeking the next short term gratification - "the next dish of ice cream"? Or is life about helping others, about doing good in the community? Does one gain goals through cooperation and listening to others or does one gain "power over" others? Analysis of the different candidates' interviews reveals the answers to these questions.

First, is the person's story about self or others? Is is all about me or all about the community? Is this the story of selfishness or of generosity?

Senator Obama's answer almost comes through on this answer, except Senator Obama is cut off by the questioner.

Obama:I think the process for me of growing up was to recognize that it's not about me. It's about --[cutoff by the questioner]

Warren: I like that. I like that.
(Every quote will be coming from the Saddleback interview and transcripts)

Later, I do think we get rather complete confirmation that Senator Obama is all about serving others, in response to the question of "what would be the greatest moral failure of America?"

Obama:I think America's greatest moral failure in my lifetime has been that we still don't abide by that basic precept in Matthew that whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me, and that notion of -- that basic principle applies to poverty. It applies to racism and sexism. It applies to, you know, not having -- not thinking about providing ladders of opportunity for people to get into the middle class. There's a pervasive sense, I think, that this country, as wealthy and powerful as we are, still don't spend enough time thinking about the least of us.

Basically, Senator Obama is working for the common good, working for the community, and not directed toward self interest. Very clearly he says that a wrong step is putting self interest first.

Obama: ... when I find myself taking the wrong step, I think a lot of times it's because I'm trying to protect myself instead of trying to do god's work.

So very clearly Senator Obama puts others first! Now let's check out Senator McCain. Senator McCain dodged many answers, yet I found this statement about his faith very revealing.

Warren: What does that mean to you and how does faith work out in your life on a daily basis? What does it mean to you?

McCain: It means I'm saved and forgiven.

Oh my, first of all the focus is on self. Then the statement is the classic religious "Get Out of Jail Free" card. I says it does not matter what I do for I will be "saved and forgiven". And the next part of the statement is also telling.

Warren: What does that mean to you and how does faith work out in your life on a daily basis? What does it mean to you?

McCain: It means I'm saved and forgiven. We're talking about the world. Our faith encompasses not just the United States of America but the world.

So the whole world needs a "Get Out of Jail Free" card? Like for war?

And here the story gets even more compelling and reveals much about Senator McCain. He stops answering the question abruptly and goes into the story.

McCain:Can I tell you another story real quick?

Warren: Sure.

McCain: The Vietnamese kept us in prison in conditions of solitary confinement...

There are so many layers of wrong here. Having known people who come back from combat, from torture, and from imprisonment, they never tell this story so easily nor so often. More than fifty years, after the horror of discovering the Nazi war camps, veterans' voices shake. Frequently people are beyond speaking about it and if they do speak, they speak with powerful emotion. That does not go away, yet here is Senator McCain telling the story like a fishing tale. And he does not do it just once, but twice in the same forum.

McCain: It was long ago, and far away, in a prison camp in North Vietnam...

Here is a comparison of what should be very similar moments: Senator McCain saying how a decision cost him more years in a prison camp at 10:04 of Part 2 of the Saddleback forum where he just said, "But I wasn't in good physical shape. In fact, I was in rather bad physical shape. So I said no." Note that there is not a grimace of pain, nor even a furrowed brow, and not a sign of stress in his voice for what he describes as the "toughest decision I ever made". Contrast this with the image of Nikali Schartz, who was in a Nazi war camp, who found out that he was almost sent to the Dora camp, an almost certain death sentence at 6:33 on CBS Holocaust I . The voice of Nikali Schartz drops. His brow furrows. You can tell the pain, even after all this time!

To me, it is even in bad taste to keep telling the story. The people I respect, talk about what they do after adversity. John F Kennedy had war injuries that left him in constant pain, yet he did not constantly tell the story of that combat. Instead John F Kennedy told the story of what he could do as president and what we, in the US, could accomplish under his leadership as president.

In general, this interview is supposed to focus on the moral beliefs of Senator John McCain, yet he ducks that issue by quoting other people. Note how he does not say that he agrees with this statement!

McCain: And you know -- a little pandering here. The first words of your very successful book is "this is not about you." you know what that also means? Serve a cause greater than your self-interest.

Pandering to me means lying. So Senator McCain implies that he will just repeat back the words from interviewer's own book and does not even bother to add that he believes in that principle. Senator McCain does come back to this later.

McCain: I want to inspire a generation of Americans to serve a cause greater than their self-interest. I believe that America's best days are ahead of us, but I also believe that we face enormous challenges, both national security and domestic, as we have found out in the last few days in the case of Georgia.

This is scary, because Senator McCain when pushes beyond self interest, he usually ends up on a war theme.

Second moral question, is the person trying to help people out or to have power over people? Does the person care that other people succeed in their dreams or does the person impose his or her judgment or will? Does a person wish empower others or have power over others?

It is clear that Senator Obama wants others to succeed in their dreams:

Obama: You know, I remember what my mother used to tell me. I was talking to somebody a while back and I said the one time that she would get really angry with me is if she ever thought that I was being mean to somebody, or unfair to somebody. She said, imagine standing in their shoes. Imagine looking through their eyes. That basic idea of empathy, and that, I think, is what's made America special is that notion, that everybody has got a shot. If we see somebody down and out, if we see a kid who can't afford college, that we care for them, too.

And I want to be president because that's the America I believe in and I feel like that American dream is slipping away

And it comes off clearly in that we just don't impose standards on other countries, we in America too. Senator Obama states clearly the ideal of America living by moral standards:

Obama: That's why it's so important for us, when we are criticizing other countries about rule of law to make sure that we're abiding by rule of law, and habeas corpus, and we're not engaging in torture, because that gives us a moral standing to talk about these other issues.

And on issues of personal beliefs and faith, he wants to respect a person's choice:

I am pro-choice. I believe in Roe v. Wade, and I come to that conclusion not because I'm pro-abortion, but because, ultimately, I don't think women make these decisions casually. I think they -- they wrestle with these things in profound ways, in consultation with their pastors or their spouses or their doctors or their family members. And so, for me, the goal right now should be -- and this is where I think we can find common ground. And by the way, I've now inserted this into the Democratic party platform, is how do we reduce the number of abortions? The fact is that although we have had a president who is opposed to abortion over the last eight years, abortions have not gone down and that is something we have to address.

And here is a clear difference, Senator Obama wants to help women and to provide the support they clearly need. Note that the Republicans say they are for "life", yet they only care about the legality, not the health care support, nor the financial support that is needed. Clearly, Republicans have voted against providing pregnancy and early childhood health care. From a Republican moral perspective, it clearly is OK for a child to die from lack of health care! So much for the Republican "life" standard. Really the Republican standard is "power over" women, by taking away their health choices, by pretending to care about life.

So where is Senator Obama in the power issue, does he want to share power or grab all the power he can? I think the interview answers show that Senator Obama is more for power sharing:

Obama: One of the most important jobs of, I believe the Supreme Court is to guard against the encroachment of the executive branch on the other, the power of the other branches.

And even when Obama talks about policy making, he talks about diverse voices.

Obama: There are people like Sam Nunn, a Democrat, or Dick Lugar, a Republican, who I'd listen to on foreign policy. On domestic policy, I've got friends ranging from Ted Kennedy to Tom Colburn, who don't necessarily agree on a lot of things, but who both have a sincere desire to see this country improve.

What I found is very helpful to me is to have a table where a lot of different points of view are represented, and where I can sit and poke and prod and ask them questions, so that any blind spots I have or predispositions that I have, that my assumptions are challenged. And I think that that's extraordinarily important.

So we have Senator Obama who wants to help people achieve their dreams,share power, respect differences, live morally by what "we" do not by forcing others to do what we say.

Now lets look at Senator McCain.

Senator McCain best moral story is that he has an adopted daughter.

McCain: Seventeen years ago Cindy was in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She went to Mother Teresa's orphanage. The nuns brought her two little babies who were not going to live. Cindy came home. I met her at the airplane. She showed me this 5-week-old baby and said, "Meet your new daughter." She's 17, and our life is blessed - and that's what adoption is all about.

Yet Senator McCain tells this story as Cindy McCain's story. Senator McCain does not put himself in the story until the 7th line and then it is a generic "our life is blessed". He does not even mention his daughter's name, even though his wife is "Cindy". I don't get the sense that emotionally, this is Senator McCain's daughter.

Does Senator McCain care that other people succeed in their dreams or does Senator McCain want to impose his judgment or will? Throughout the whole interview, there is a sense of one and only one set of correct values.

McCain: Our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values and principles.

Every statement here was said in word specific dogmatic codes to only a specific group of people:

McCain: For those of us in the pro-life community.

Note the use of the word "us". Note the code word of pro-life when Senator McCain does not support health care for pregnant woman or children. In fact, pro-war would be a more accurate statement of Senator McCain, which is the opposite of pro-life. It is also against the "Christian" principles of Jesus's own words of "Blessed be the peacemaker" and the commandment "Thou shall not kill". Note that the commandment does not say "Thou shall not kill except in times of war."

McCain:And we're going to defeat this evil. And the central battleground according to David Petraeus and Osama bin Laden is the battle, is Baghdad, Mosul, Basra and Iraq and we are winning and succeeding and our troops will come home with honor and with victory and not in defeat.

This translates into war and more war. Victory, that was declared years ago by President Bush. Perhaps we should have a definition of what victory is to Senator McCain, since he has said that a 100 years of war would be acceptable. Even the word "Victory" is "power over" type of word, not like leaving Iraq as an independent peaceful self-governed country.

In fact, Senator McCain sounds like he is promising a holy religious war.

McCain:Of course, evil must be defeated. My friends, we are facing the transcended challenge of the 21st century -- radical Islamic extremism.

And even when it is not war, Senator McCain wants to impose his will on other countries.

McCain: The President of the United States' greatest asset is the bully pulpit. The president of the United States -- and I go back again to Ronald Reagan - he went to the Berlin Wall and said, "Take down this wall," called them an "evil empire."

Many said don't antagonize the Russians, don't cause a confrontation with the Soviet Union. He stood for what he believed, and he said what he believed, and he said to those people who were then captive nations, the day will come when you will know freedom and democracy and the fundamental rights of man.

Wow, Senator McCain clearly has the sense that the United States can invade any country while Russia is not allowed to invade any country. This is so clearly a case of do as I say, not as I do. Very warped ethics here! And nowhere in Senator McCain's interview is there a sense that that this is hypocritical.

So does the Senator McCain "power over" ethics apply to domestic policy as well as foreign policy? The strongest indicator of "power over" is the judges issue.

Warren:The first one is on the courts. Which existing Supreme Court Justices would you not have nominated?

McCain: With all due respect, Justice Ginsburg, Justice Breyer, Justice Souter, and Justice Stephens.

Warren: Why? Tell me why. McCain: Well, I think that the president of the United States has incredible responsibility in nominating people to the United States Supreme Court. They are lifetime positions, as well as the federal bench. There will be two or maybe three vacancies. This nomination should be based on the criteria of proven record, of strictly adhering to the Constitution of the United States of America and not legislating from the bench. Some of the worst damage has been done by legislating from the bench. (APPLAUSE)..

The strongest examples of legislating from the bench come from Senator McCain's choices,"Justice Ginsburg, Justice Breyer, Justice Souter, and Justice Stephens." However, as long as these judges force people to do as Senator McCain believes, then that is not "legislating from the bench". It's another case of it's OK if I do it and not OK if you do it. Furthermore, these judges have been the strongest supporters of executive power. Freedom here does not apply to individuals, it only applies to freedom to do what the Republican party wants. That's not freedom for me!

Education is where it really shows that Senator McCain is for privilege not people. This is where education becomes a perk of the powerful and the rich:

Warren: About 80 percent of America says they support merit pay for the best teachers. Now, I don't want to hear your stump speech on education.

McCain: Yes, yes, and find bad teachers another line of work. (APPLAUSE).

Warren: You know, we're going to end this, you're answering so quickly. You want to play a game of poker?

McCain: Can I -- choice and competition, choice and competition, home schooling, charter schools, vouchers, all the choice in competition. I want -- look, I want everyone American family to have the same choice that Cindy and I made and Senator Obama and Mrs. Obama made as well, and that was, we wanted to send our children to the school of our choice. And charter schools work, my friends. Home schooling works. Vouchers in our nation's capital works. We've got thousands of people in Washington, D.C., that are applying for a voucher system. New York City is reforming.

Funding as a moral decision! The 62% of federal discretionary funding going for war, supported by Senator McCain, also clearly shows Senator McCain's moral priorities. Everything else - education, health care, retirement, financial security - that all becomes the privilege of the rich.

So how does Senator McCain defend himself as not being for the very rich? By setting the definition of the rich very high:

McCain:So, I think if you are just talking about income, how about $5 million?

OK, so maybe that was meant to be a joke, it really ducked the question. Studies show that only the super rich have been doing better during the Republican reign. Senator McCain has supported all the policies that made that happen.

Conclusion: In morality, Senator Obama's focus is on empowering others, Senator McCain's focus is on power over others.

Senator Obama is willing to share power and to respect diverse beliefs. Senator Obama would have the US be a moral leader by example and by cooperation.

Senator McCain supports a Supreme Court that gives the executive the strongest power and imposes beliefs on others, instead of protecting individual freedom. Senator McCain is a great proponent of war and the US imposing its will on other countries. Senator McCain is proponent of imposing one specific set of Judeo-Christian principles on everyone instead of individual freedom.