Two of a kind - No real distance between McCain, Bush
When John McCain takes to the podium tonight to accept his party's nomination, he'll undoubtedly claim his independence from George Bush's failed policies and broken promises.
But try as he might, McCain cannot distance himself from the fact that he's voted with Bush 90 percent of the time and shares the administration's core principles and values.
Where has that gotten us during the past eight years? Let's see: The economy is in a tailspin; a recession is looming; the unemployment rate continues to rise; foreclosures are at an all-time high; and the war in Iraq continues to drag on with no end in sight.
How both McCain and Barack Obama plan on addressing these important matters reveals clear differences between the candidates.
McCain's vision mirrors the Bush agenda when it comes to issues Americans care most about - the economy and the war. McCain wants to make Bush's tax cuts permanent for the top 1 percent of wealthy Americans while the middle class struggles to pay its bills. Meanwhile, he provides no blueprint or timetable for exiting Iraq, despite the fact that Iraqi leaders want an established deadline for withdrawal.
Barack Obama offers voters a different kind of leadership - one that doesn't follow someone else's script but is focused on moving our country in a new and better direction. Obama will enact middle-class tax relief to assist families coping with soaring prices and demand a withdrawal of combat forces by 2010 to allow for a sovereign government.
Even on the campaign trail, McCain has followed Bush's lead and taken a page from Karl Rove's bag of dirty tricks. By airing attack ads comparing his opponent to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, McCain did voters a disservice by mocking Obama instead of making a case for his own candidacy. That's hardly putting country first.
Make no mistake, McCain is no independent. He wants to emerge from Bush's shadow and dismal approval ratings, but he cannot escape the fact that his candidacy is just more of the same.
• Alexi Giannoulias, Democrat, is Illinois state treasurer. The Daily Herald is running a series of counterpoint columns during the Republican National Convention as it did for the Democratic National Convention.