The View From Here . . .

By Bob Morgan, Jr.

On Tuesday, November 4, Americans will be called upon to make a decision as to who will lead the nation for the next four years.

We seem to be told in each presidential cycle that this is the most important election ever, or at least in decades. I am not sure that this is true this year (my guess is that the current economic clouds will dissipate sooner rather than later), but it is nevertheless the case that the two candidates for president, Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, have substantially different views of the future.

On domestic policy, Senator Obama has argued that the basic causes of our nation's economic problems in recent years can be traced to a lack of regulation and to tax policies that favor the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. Mr. Obama's solutions include more taxes on large businesses and on high-income taxpayers, as well as relief in the form of credits even for taxpayers who do not owe income tax. Mr. Obama will also increase health coverage by employer mandates and greater participation in government health insurance.

Senator McCain tends to agree that "greed" is a key factor in the present problems on Wall Street, but his campaign has ruled out new tax increases, which he believes particularly inappropriate in a recession, and he has pledged to root out wasteful earmark spending and impose an across-the-board spending cut. Mr. McCain's health plan relies principally on tax credits for all purchasing insurance.

On foreign policy, Mr. McCain, an early advocate of putting more troops in Iraq and the successful "surge" strategy, urges that the United States continue military operations in that country until the job is done. Mr. Obama favors a withdrawal on a fixed timetable and more focus on Afghanistan. Mr. Obama early in the campaign indicated that he will meet with world dictators "without preconditions."

Of course, while positions on issues are very important, the life history and character of a candidate are significant, too. And in this year, both nominees offer a compelling story. Mr. Obama was born of a short-lived marriage and made the best of his life, attending Columbia University and becoming the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Law Review, an extremely prestigious position, before entering public life. His eloquence and vision, captured both in his autobiographies and on the stump, have inspired millions. Mr. McCain endured incredible privations for his country as a prisoner of war and has been a voice of independence over a long career in the United States Senate, bucking his party on such issues as campaign finance, global warming and judicial nominations.

Mr. McCain's more market-based domestic policy prescriptions, while perhaps a little less focused than they might be, generally seem to lead in a right direction for America. In foreign affairs, Mr. McCain is surely right to oppose any policy that might lead to defeat in Iraq after all the sacrifice of our soldiers. Mr. McCain's life of service to our country gives him a vision born of experience as he seeks to lead us in difficult times. Whatever the current state of the polls, and whatever the inspirational power of the Barack Obama candidacy, many of us regard John McCain as the right choice on Election Day.