The differences between the tickets in this year’s presidential race are typical for the differences between the two political parties.
The Republican, McCain/Palin care about big business and small government, and they make promises along those precepts and tend to keep their promises. They care little about minorities, the poor, the working class (especially union members), civil rights, the environment, and sure as hell don’t care about endangered species. They talk plainly on these matters and do everything in their power to advance their agenda. They lock step with fellow party members and the Congress to advance their agenda.
Democrats, Obama and Biden, say they care about the environment, the poor, minorities, gays, women, endangered species, small businesses, unions, and the like. Democrat leaders promise great things to their constituents prior to elections, but then forget their promises immediately after the elections and, instead, immediately focus on raising funds for the next election and governing so as to offend the least people possible. Democrats cannot organize to fight the opposition effectively or even to thwart opposition tactics when Democrats are in the majority. But Republicans find ways to thwart Democrats even when Republicans are in the minority.
What did Bill Clinton and Al Gore do for the environment when they were in power? They promised the moon to get elected, but could not even get grazing reform in the arid west while the lands involved dried up and blew away. Al Gore failed to significantly influence national behavior on global climate change as Vice-president even with a friendly congress. Bill Clinton threw the welfare moms to the wolves and both Clinton/Gore "reinvented" government along the lines of Republican thinking, to the horror of their constituents.
The only reason Clinton/Gore were not run out of town by their own people was that the economy hit one of those bubbles of irrational exuberance, not due to their policies, but due to the serendipity of being in the right place at the right time. George W. Bush hit office as that same bubble began to burst and he paid the price despite his pro-business mentality.
The Republicans don’t care about the little guy, but they don’t pretend to. They hope the little guy gets the trickle down effect of their policies to boost income for the rich. The Democrats say they care about the little guy, but forget about him after Election Day. The two sides end up essentially the same.
Both parties promote the interests of the American Empire and the warfare state that profits from the preservation of Empire. Both sides rigorously oppose any power, foreign or domestic, that fails to heed the game plan established in favor of Empire. Saddam Hussein was hated as much by Bill Clinton as he was by George Bush. Ditto Iran. Both parties coddle China and overlook human rights abuses in order to maximize the good relations that bring profits to the minions of Empire.
The Democratic and Republican parties are not opposition parties, they are competing parties. The competition for power and to enact the advancement of the same powerful forces that dominate America. It is hard to say who might bomb Iran sooner, Obama or McCain. It is hard to say who will attack Pakistan first, McCain or Obama. Both want to destroy the environment further with what both call "clean coal technology" and nuclear energy. Neither has said a word about endangered species recovery for the spotted owl, the polar bear or the red-cockaded woodpecker.
Political hacks on both sides see huge differences in the parties based on their own affiliations and checkbooks – not based on principle. Both parties are sleazy and corrupt. Neither party deserves the support of the American people. The American people are manipulated into frenzies of hero worship or people who are not only NOT heroes, but who they would avoid like the plague if they had any sense.
If Americans had any sense, they would elect Ralph Nader as President in a landslide or Cynthia McKinney. But they don’t and they will deserve what they get.