Select2008 Blog - Comparing and tracking the 2008 presidential candidates

During this election season, strong differences have emerged in gender preferences for presidential candidates.

These gender differences were highlighted by many polls during the prolonged Democratic primary season and were confirmed after Senator Clinton withdrew from the race.

For instance, Gallup released poll results on gender differences on June 11, 2008. The polls showed that:

We are extremely pleased to launch iSelect2008.com to empower women for the 2008 election.

The site brings all the collective intelligence and great content from Select2008, but offers a customized face off quiz to help women understand how Obama and McCain address women’s concerns and support women’s interests.

We are working with Glam and Glam.com and hope to bring this site to their uniquely large women audience, as a Publisher Network Affiliate.

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Gallup released polls results this week showing that McCain is catching up with Obama in a general election face off.

There is one area though where McCain hasn’t yet fully caught up: viral online marketing.

Obama Girl

Raining McCain

Would that explain why McCain is trailing Obama in Select2008 Election Face Off?

Don’t forget to check out our Youtube channel for more videos about the 2008 elections.

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Yesterday, Barack Obama made a speech in Philadelphia yesterday about Reverend Wright, race and religion.

You can find the entire speech on the Select2008 Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Select2008

The response to Obama’s speech on the blogosphere is overwhelming. Will this speech help him preserve his lead in the Clinton vs. Obama Face Off? Will the speech help Obama catch up with Clinton in Pennsylvania, who according to latest polls is edging over?

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Last night’s debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama put on display some key differences between the two candidates’ platform and positions, but did not reveal much new about them.

Key policy and programmatic differences in the Clinton vs. Obama Face Off concern domestic issues – such as healthcare, immigration, and retirement - and foreign affairs issues – including diplomacy, free trade, and the war in Iraq. The summary below also includes links to the corresponding questions on Select2008.

Foreign Affairs – Clinton and Obama have strongly disagreed on several foreign affairs-related issues:

- Obama stated his support in favor of talking with leaders of ‘rogue’ nations without preconditions, including the Iranian leadership and the newly-nominated Cuban leader, Raul Castro;

- the two candidates further disagree on normalizing relations with Cuba;

- Clinton supported the Senate resolution on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, while Obama asserted that the Senate resolution on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was paving the path for a military engagement with Iran;

- The two candidates also disagree on having the U.S. join the International Criminal Court;

Free Trade – Free trade was a divisive issue during the primaries campaign, as candidates faced a softening economy; this issue is particularly sensitive ahead of the Ohio primaries. Although both candidates supported the Peru free trade agreement, they disagree on key free trade issues: negotiate new free trade agreements and renegotiate NAFTA;

War in Iraq – Clinton and Obama have had differences over the War in Iraq from the onset back in 2002; the two candidates also disagree on the way forward on Iraq, either by federalizing Iraq along sectarian lines, or by following the conclusions from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, as well as the size and mission of the U.S. “residual” force in Iraq;

Universal Healthcare – Both candidates have come out in favor of Universal Healthcare. However, Clinton’s Universal healthcare plan differs quite significantly from Obama’s healthcare plan, including on issues as fundamental as:

- universal coverage for all Americans,

- mandatory coverage for all Americans,

- drugs reimportation,

- means-tested tax credits for healthcare insurance,

- health insurance for small business employees, and

- access to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program

Immigration – On immigration, the two candidates have disagreed on mainly two issues: the support for driving licenses for undocumented immigrants and the scope of an earned legalization program for undocumented immigrants.

Retirement – Both Clinton and Obama have made proposals on retirement to ensure Social Security’s future, guarantee its defined benefit pensions, and facilitate retirement savings. However, the candidates have disagreed on key measures to maintain Social Security’s funding into the future, such as raising or eliminating the cap on Social Security taxable income to prevent benefit cuts for future retirees, and levying Social Security taxes on income revenues higher than $200,000/year.

Popularity: 49% [?]