Another Worrisome McCain Trait

In this campaign season, there has been a general sense of excitement and momentum behind one candidate or the other.  But–and I’m ashamed to admit this–I knew there was something missing from the rhetoric, propaganda and mudslinging, that was just out of my mind’s reach.  Barack Obama made a comment in the Nashville debate that jarred my consciousness.  Until Obama stated his three priorities–Energy, Health Care, and Education (doh!)–I couldn’t figure out that we have dealt with clear, but present dangers, such as the credit crisis, the energy crisis and the fronts in Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan/Israel/Palestine…but haven’t really dealt with the most important domestic issue we have, for the sake of our future.  Educating our children should be a matter of national security, and an important topic for any presidential candidates.

I believe in what you’d call almost the stock definition of elitist–The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources. I don’t think it’s a crime to believe, especially, that the most intelligent among us deserve the keys to the kingdom. Our children can be highly competitive with the rest of the world, if we’re ready to really invest in their education.  After all, where will the engineers and scientists of the next generation come from, if not from humble beginnings in the American educational system?

This has not been a talking point in much of the large arena from the Democratic or Republican nominee. It has been said that Obama has positive views on funding education, especially Early Childhood and Higher education, but even he has not made more than ten significant statements since the beginning of 2008. McCain, however…

…is rated 45% by the NEA, indicating a mixed record on public education. He did not even make the first public statement (which I know is not necessarily policy) concerning education, until June of this year, although he had some really good ideas…in 1999, before No Child Left Behind (NCLB) complicated things. Even still, he managed to have voted NO on shifting $11B from corporate tax loopholes to education. As posted by The Democratic Strategist concerning his comments about porkbarrel spending and earmarks for $3,000,000 projector in a Chigago planetarium:

 Does anyone else out there find it a little odd that Senator McCain is so obsessed with trashing planetariums? I understand that a hefty portion of his base harbors a medieval suspicion of science education in general. But you would think that a Senator, a former pilot at that, who prides himself in being a strong champion of our national security would at least get it that teaching young people about the cosmos is a good way to get them interested in physics, rocket science and the like.

The final paragraph summed it up nicely:

What is even more worrisome is the subtext behind McCain’s contempt for planetariums. It’s not just a reactionary attitude toward science. He has never placed much value on education in general and sees federal investment in education as a waste. If elected, he and Palin could do serious damage to America’s ability to compete in the years ahead with other nations which are making major investments in upgrading their educational systems. It would be hard to devise a quicker way to turn America into a second-rate power than electing the pair of them. One more reason to write another check for Obama.

What about education? If the common response from the Republican side of the fence is, “Who cares? We can’t focus on that until we finish this war…” we are in more trouble than I originally thought.