How is Barack Obama different from John McCain?

Answer 1

This was the question often asked during the 2008 presidential election. For one thing, Senator John McCain is a conservative Republican, while then-Senator Barack Obama was, and remains, a centrist Democrat (Mr. Obama leans somewhat left on social issues, but is generally center or center right on other issues; Mr. McCain, while considered a "maverick" by some in Congress, had moved far to the right to reflect what his party expected during the election). John McCain remains a conservative Republican, though far more mainstream than some in his party.

As for other differences: John McCain is white, in his late 70s, and a former Prisoner of War who fought in the Vietnam War. President Obama is African-American (a black father born in Africa, a white mother born in Kansas), in his early 50s, and by the time he was growing up, the war in Vietnam had ended and there was no more military draft, so he did not serve in the military. During the 2008 election, many voters seemed to feel Mr. McCain was old and out of touch, as well as a strong supporter of many now-unpopular George W. Bush policies, such as the war in Iraq. Barack Obama was perceived as younger and more in-touch with youthful voters, as well as a strong opponent of the war in Iraq who promised to end US involvement and bring the troops home.

McCain has not shown himself a Conservative lately, refusing to stand with those who tried to defund Obamacare. He is now considered a pariah among Conservatives.

Barack Hussein Obama is not a centrist either. He has been called the "Most liberal president" ever by many.