writing four

Michelle Snavely
Lit/Comp 10/ Siegmund
October 1, 2008
Persuasive Essay

In the 2008 election, Obama vs. McCain, there are some very important topics that they disagree on in their campaign. The ones that caught my attention the most were the disagreements on immigration, the Iraq war and Climate Change. In my personal opinion, Obama knows a lot more about what he is talking about. I think that the way he wants to handle these situations are the best ways to do it for our people and for our country. I believe this because he seems very strong about his opinions and he seems to know what he wants for our country.
The first topic I would like to talk about is the debate on immigration. Obama believes that we should let the illegal immigrants become U.S. citizens. He explains that we should make them pay a small fine for coming to our country illegally but then give them a license and make them start paying taxes. In my opinion that is the most reasonable and mature way to handle it. On the other hand, McCain wants to do the complete opposite. He says he wants to build a huge wall, a lot like the Berlin Wall, all the way around the U.S.-Mexico border. This upsets me in a lot of ways because of the fact that it will give America the look of a stuck up country. We should be welcoming these people into our country. He also explains that he wants to find all eleven million illegal immigrants and send them back to Mexico. The only way they can stay is if the job they have right now cannot be taken over by an American, and if that is the case, they will be given a “tamper-proof visa.”
How does that make any sense at all? Any American can take over a job just like any Hispanic can take over any American’s job. Personally, I think McCain has the complete wrong idea as to how to get a handle on the illegal immigrants. And how does he propose to catch these eleven million immigrants? They are pretty good at hiding from the government thus far, how is he going to be any different at catching these immigrants?
The next issue going on in the 2008 debate is the Iraq war. I have a very strong opinion on the war and I personally don’t think we are over in Iraq for a reason anymore. Obama doesn’t believe in this war at all. He promises that if he is elected president that he will begin pulling troops as soon as possible. He sees this war as a flame that is only getting bigger the longer we stay stationed over in Iraq. In his opinion, the longer we stay, the Middle East is only going to grow more furious with the United States and that can cause unwanted bombing of our country. McCain however, is for the war. He believes that we are needed in Iraq “until the freely elected government of that country and its armed forces are able to defend their country from foreign and domestic enemies.” In a lot of ways both candidates are right on their stand on the Iraq war. The only reason why I disagree with McCain is because this is their country and we shouldn’t be over there trying to run a country that we have no say in.
The last debate I want to talk about is the debate on the Climate change. Both of these candidates have great ideas about what to do. Obama wants to stop the climate change right now and wants us to join the Kyoto treaty. The Kyoto Treaty is a treaty stating that all the countries need to join together to stop global warming. He says that America itself cannot stop the global climate change. Every country needs to join in to stop this downfall. McCain says that America needs to lower our energy consumption by itself. He thinks that there is no need for us to join the Kyoto Treaty until China and India join the treaty. He says this is because they are two big countries that have a lot to do with the Global warming and that there would be no point in us joining the treaty and giving up our energy until these two countries join the treaty as well. I disagree; I think that America should lead by example and join this treaty because maybe if China and India see us join they will join too.
Honestly, I think that Barack Obama would be a better president for the United States as of where we stand right now. He is completely against the war and I agree with him. I don’t think there is any need to be in Iraq anymore because first of all we have already won the war. The only thing we are doing over there as of now is getting our loved ones killed and trying to control a country that we have no part in. I also think he has a lot better plans with how we should deal with immigration and climate change. He knows what the people want and what the people need. This is the type of person that America needs right now, not someone who wants to stay at war and thinks that we cant do anything on our own.