Facts do matter

Ade Sawyer's Oct. 3 column, "Dumb it down" chose to recite Sen. Barack Obama's campaign talking points instead of objectively assessing the records of the presidential candidates.

Sawyer says it is "odd... to expect 'change' from a candidate" who has voted with President George W. Bush "90 percent of the time." But that statistic deceptively refers to senate procedural votes, which draw party-line votes. By that measure, Obama has voted with Nancy Pelosi 97 percent of the time.

Anyone who has been following politics from before this general election campaign knows Sen. John McCain is anything but Bush's third term. McCain was a critic of Bush's Iraq strategy as early as 2003. He excoriated a 2005 Bush energy bill containing billions in subsidies for oil companies, supports an official ban on torture which the Bush administration has opposed and prominently opposed Bush's 2003 prescription drug benefit legislation. This is in addition to differing views on climate change and environmental policy, stem cell research, ethanol subsidies and U.S. nuclear strategy, among other issues.

The Arizona Senator is a moderate Republican and a fiercely independent one at that. The nonpartisan National Journal finds McCain voted conservatively 59.4 percent of the time between 2001 and 2006, putting him squarely among the Senate's centrists. Perhaps no senator has a more prominent record of bipartisan efforts that have rankled members of his own party, on topics including immigration, campaign finance reform, and fuel economy standards.

Obama, by contrast, is the most liberal senator in The National Journal's 2007 ranking, voting liberally 95.5 percent of the time. His running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, ranked third most liberal in 2007, voting liberal 94.2 percent of the time.

Independent and moderate voters frequently complain that they lack a candidate who understands their views. Now they have one in McCain. Only McCain has the record of bipartisanship to back up claims that he will overcome the Washington gridlock.

Vikram Srinivasan

Chair, Duke College Republicans