Note: This is a nearly live blog of a political session at BlogHer. (Nearly live because there were so many typos that I decided to save it and fix it after lunch.)
Lisa Stone introduced us to the members of the presidential campaigns. Said BlogHer is proud to be a nonpartisan organization, embracing people with every political persuasion, to have a level of civil disagreement; we wanted data rather than rhetoric.
The speakers were Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (surrogate for Obama) and Liz Mair (surrogate for McCain).
Liz Mair is the online communcations director for the Republic National Committee. Probably see things, hear things, receive things from her. Will take email addresses for those who would like to. Very focused on aggressive outreach to bloggers. Talking about which candidate is best for women.
As a woman who supports McCain, she feels the most important issue facing women are our Foreign policy and national security challenges. She said Senator McCain has a demonstrated track record of experience (27 years) which inspires confidence in women. Thinks also a lot of talk about the economy, Americans are hurting and McCain has put forward a plan for economic growth. Small business owners are largely women and clearly how we handle issues of taxation and health care have a bearing on women's role in business. Aimed for growth, plan speciically targeted to keep taxes low and increase choice and portability in insurance. Big reasons she thinks he is the one to move women forward.
Schwartz: Thrilled with bloggers - a whole new thing. Senator Obama is reaching out to people, talks about his posiions, his hopes, his dreams to lead the nation in a new and exciting way and bring more people into the process. Schwartz is a second term member of Congress from Pennsylvania and the only woman in the Pennsylvania delegation. Want us to know she was a big Hillary Clinton supporter and worked hard and Hillary won really big and is here to work as hard for Obama. For her, while experiencing disappointment in not seeing the first woman president, feels they had two strong candidates in the primary. But then you get over it and move on. For her, as a member of Congress and a woman there is simply such an extraordinary contrast in the candidates from where they stand on the issus (pro choice vs pro life) domestic violence, breast cancer research, child care tax credits, health care, universal health care, energy independence and security. No question for her that Barack Obama is the one to meet the challenges and inspire us to do so in an exciting way.
Lisa posed the first question, which turned out to be one that I asked last week on the BlogHer site:
For Senator McCain: Given the fallout from our mortgage and banking crises (which arose from total free market forces and not enough regulation of the banking industry), the implosion of the values of our homes, the rising cost of energy (which is fueling a scary trend towards inflation), the crumbling of our infrastructure and our growing national debt: Please explain how making the Bush tax cuts permanent is going to put our economy back on track.
For Senator Obama: Your platform includes many progressive goals that could provide relief for the lower and middle classes - but given the current economic trends, how are we going to pay for them?
For both candidates: What can we do in the short term to provide relief for families who are being squeezed by inflation, unemployment and unaffordability of health care?
For McCain: How wll making Bush's tax cuts permanent put the economy on track:
Mair: Thinks it will spur economic growth. thinks it is nonsensical in this economy to raise taxes on working families would b helpful and that is wat obama is advocating. not something that will help women or americns over all in tough times. additionally, if you are taking mor money away from small businesses which are the engine of the economy, that will take money from workers. need to encourage small bsiness growth.
Lisa asked Congressperson Schwartz how do you plan to pay for Obama's plan?
Schwartz: It's hard. Do we want this to be a conversation or a debate? The discussion about taxes is not easy. As elected officials we would love to say we will cut everybody's taxes and we will all be better off. The fact that the Republicans keep saying that the Democrats just want to raise your taxes is simply not true. The fact that the Bush tax cuts were set to end, if you want to blame someone for it ending in 2010, blame the Republicans because it was designed that way. Republicans and President Bush said they knew that the cuts would put more of us into the AMT. We need to look at tax policy to make sure that the middle class and the lower class benefit. But we also need to make sure we fund the government.
How to invest in research and development? Gonna do it by looking at loopholes for biggest corporations, offshore giveaways to insurance companies who are being overpaid dramatically by Medicare. We have dollars in budget that can be redirected and also look at the taxes of the very wealthiest Americans.
Question from audience member Lori, who said she was of Libertarian stripe. She believes in Freedom and is alienated by Democrats (economic freedom) and Republicans (personal freedom). Doesn't know which party she dislikes more. She wants to know how the candidates plan to restore personal freedom to people and not let it erode any more.
Schwartz: It's always a balancing process in this country. It's a challenge in a threatening world to protect civil liberties while keeping secure. We should not give up our civil liberties, but the details matter. You need to figure out who you trust more in that matter. We do know as women that what government does or doesn't do sets the stage for whether you have the freedom to invest and grow and take advantage. No easy answer, you need to figure out who you trust.
Mair: Agrees with what the Congresswoman said about the challenge of balancing civil liberties and security. Can't have one without the other. Economically: one of the real issues that Libertarians have with Democratic party is emphasis on increasing size and scope of government. $600 billion proposed to expend. Might be ways to justify that but fact of the matter that with that expansion of government will pose problem to Libertarians. McCain always has a commitment to cutting waste in government, need to impose more transparency.
What he's talking about is a way for people to gain better access to information.
Audience member Megan: She's the only liberal Democrat in her extended family, which is a nightmare for her. They own a small business and hears from her father-in-law that if Obama is elected, their busines will fall to pieces and it will be a disaster for country. She asked for something concrete she can use to go back to her family.
Schwartz: Obama proposes specifically eliminating capital gain taxes for woman-owned smal business to 0. Wants to increase tax credits for Research and Development important to both large and small business. Two areas that all businesses talk about and hurt are health care and eergy costs. The contast on health care alone is a reason to vote for Obama. McCain is simple: wants to end employer based health care and wants everyone to go into individual marketplace with a tax credit. What will help small business is a political commitment to tackle this issue. Need to help small business afford and contain health care costs. The second is energy cost and unless we start to get serious about investing in alternative renewable fuels we will just be more dependent on foreign sources. Third point is educating the work force.
Mair: Curious about the business her family owns. (Heating and air conditioning). First thing is that if it's a corporation, MCcain is talking about reducing corporate taxes (we are second to Japan), which doesn't allow us to be competitive. Touching on a couple of points: R&D tax credits - McCain has outlined aggressive policy on that to expand and promote things like green technology. Energy costs a serious concern doesn't know anybody who is happy with the price of gas among oher things, tremendous impacts on housing and food. When looking at Obama's proposals, she doesn't see anything about supply of energy immediately. Senator McCain wants to increase offshore drilling and nuclear energy. He is absolutely committed to developing solar, wind, other energy sources. He has a comprehensive plan to deal with energy issues. Says Obama doesn't do anything to increase supply but does want to impose windfall profit tax on oil companies.
Lisa (reading a question submitted on the BlogHer site):
I am an American, living abroad, and am quite honestly nervous about even thinking about returning to my home country any time soon. Watching from the outside as the economy struggles while the Canadian dollar rises, living in a country that provides Universal Health Care while millions of Americans cannot afford basic health coverage, I have seen first-hand how other countries are doing so much more for their citizens right now. I would like to know what your plans for making America better for it's OWN citizens, not just a military strong-hold. What is going to change that will make me WANT to come home?
Mair: Spend several years living in the United Kingdom and did not like the National Health Service. John McCain's plan emphasizes tax credits for families to buy health care in the marketplace. He's talking about overall reform of how the market operates. Right now, state mandates are preventing people from buying insurance in the marketplace as a whole. Will open up selection, and options to buy health care for a lot less than now. The other thing that gets lost in this debate is what we are actually going to do for transparency of health care costs. If I sprain an ankle and go for treatment, hard to tell which hospital/doctor will give me the best treatment for lowest cost. McCain is talking about increasing transparency for basic health care treatments and costs. Better able to make decisions about outcomes and spending.
Schwartz: Sharp ideological difference. While Americans love the idea of choice and price comparisons... there are ways we can do this. If you have chest pain and you call 911 and are in an ambulance, how are you going to find out - you're not going to tell them not to take you there because it's too expensive. You're just not going to have that kind of control. You can try, but you might not be able to. The fact is it's not realistic. Information and transparency and incentives are important it needs to be done much more within the system. Really clear commitment on the part of Obama to make sure that every child in this country has access to affordable health care. Huge - just like we now do for seniors. If we did that for kids, would make tremendous difference.
Republicans will over and over agian say that dems want to create a national health system like (insert country's name). Doesn't think Americans want a single payment system and that's not what Obama is proposing. Looking for a uniquely American solution. Those who have access to insurance through employer will keep it. What they want to do for the 47 million who do not have access can pool and join federal employee system (with lots of choices), band together will reduce prices. Can opt for early inclusion in Medicare. As close to universal coverage as possible but via uniquely American way. Lack of coverage, inefficiency and make sure people get the care they need in a timely manner.
Question from Shirleen: In terms of technology - McCain makes her nervous about his understanding of technology. Doesn't hear anything of his understanding of net neutrality or mybenefits.gov, which each state is told they must implement. Things that are important to them and they don't have skills. What are McCain's platform of technology.
Mair: McCain is very focused on technology. He has directly engaged with the blogging community. He has conference calls with bloggers that are pretty open. This speaks volumes of his understanding of the importance of community and information engaged online. Carly Fiorina knows tech issues and is advising his campaign. No dearth of technology understanding. look at proposals that matter to the tech community. Net neutrality should be achieved in a market friendly matter. increase H1B visas. ot protectionist. McCain is advocating a platform that speaks to the tech community. Increasing transparency of government agencies.
Schwartz: Doesn't think there's been a more tech savvy campaign than Obama's. He's engaged so many new people, younger people by using the internet in really remarkable ways. No reason to expalin obama's commitment and embrace of technology in the campaign. Obama worked hard to get transparency measures passed in Congress.
Obama is not going to disagree w/McCain on everything. This is where the Obama campaign understands going forward. Seeing that we have an educated workforce that young people understand and can use technology and young girls are encouraged to go into engineering. Committed to make sure it's going to happen. For Obama it's not forced. He understands as a Democrat that to be economically competitive in a global marketplace, we have to encourage new techonologies innovation and build on them for American business. Make sure that health care, energy, education, fair tax policies encourage small and medium businesses, not just mega corporations. That also means international trade. It's not black and white -protectionist vs. open. you need some guidelines an they need to be fair to American companies and workers. international labor standards and enforcement will be in our country and those we have agreements with and that we will be serious and that is simply not the case.
She mentioned Peru, where we insisted on doing the trade agreement right and it happened.
Question from Nancy: Wants to talk about trust. Has concerns with Obama over FISA. Can we really trust him because he acted so differently than we thought. As for McCain - Her brother was in Vietnam and heard McCain's broadcasts trying to demoralize the troops - her brother feels he did cooperate with the North Vietnamese and wants to know which candidate she can trust.
Schwartz: Important question. on some level does come down to who to trust to protect and defend our nation and build economic opportunity for ourselves and our children. Obama has been clear about honoring McCain's service to the country. FISA - as a legislator, you make statements about what you want and then you are confronted with legislation that is not what you wanted. Personally voted against FISA. Need to hold the Administration accountable. Obama expects to be chief executive and was deeply concerned that the president doesn't overstep the boundaries and he won't do that.
Schwartz thinks he said he wants to make sure court system continues - and it was better than the previous legislation. She has enormous confidence in his ability, intellect, ability to bring people together and work through together.
Mair: Wanted to answer the questioner's assertion about McCain's years as a POW. She said that John McCain was tortured on a daily basis for five and a half years. Does not think it's accurate to portray McCain as cooperating with the Vietnamese.
As for FISA, Obama kept saying repeatedly that he would not vote for the legislation, but then he did support the compromise legislation. He's inconsistent. She thinks it's fair to say that a large number of Obama supporters who feel that the fact that he was so clear cut in saying he would not give telecom immunity and then did -- makes it fair to question his trustworthiness.
Question: We think about the makeup and organization of a presidential campaign gives you clues to what they would do if elected. Please tell us about the women who are in key roles in the campaign.
Schwartz: Naming Obama's women - has been including very strong women. He's married to a strong woman and is surrounding himself with strong smart women. Kathleen Sebelius, Janet Napolitano... he's very clear about his support and inclusion of women on every level. Also on us whoever the president is to fight for women. Cited the historic aspect of the Obama campaign and the interest of the rest of the world.
Mair: Fiorina (previously mentioned), [named others - talking too fast for me to get] in addition to that, if you look at the makeup of the campaign and the Republican National Committee, you will see that women hold very key positions where they are impacting what's going on with strategy on a day to day basis.
"The fact that I'm here talking with a Congresswoman speaks volumes of how McCain perceives women and the importance he places on them. There are countless other women on the campaign advising on particular points."
As for blogger calls: She doesn't think to her knowledge that Obama does (told from the audience that he does). We do a lot of calls open to bloggers.
Closing:
Mair: Both Obama and McCain were major forces on recent bill on government transparency. On healthcare, it's not correct to characterize that McCain's position will put people in the postion of deciding if they want to have an X-ray or not. When talking about having a cold or sinus infection, there are tools like that that are very important in making a decision.
Wrapping up - there are a couple of key things to talk about. In national security and foreign policy, it is clear that McCain is well placed to be commander in chief. As to the economy: for as much as we may talk about whether the Democratic party just wants to raise taxes, that Obama IS for corporate tax increases and if you are a small business, that's going to hurt. It's important to all of us and that's why McCain is best placed.
Schwartz: Serves on Ways and Means and Budget committees in Congress. When it comes to tax policy that we are all affected by this economy which is the result of eight years. The country is eight trillion dollars in debt. This affects us. Look at the value of dollar, our inability to borrow. This puts us at security risk and economic risk. It is a serious challenge.
You can say McCain wants to stay the course in Iraq - is this the security policy you want? For most Americans, it's what Obama wants - to use military force only when we need to and to use diplomacy to pursue relationships that are strong. Health care choices, how to stimulate the economy and help small business grow. Obama has concrete ideas on how to work together to make it happen. He believes we can meet these challenges by having a debate and dialogue. Bloggers talk to millions of women every day in this country. Women can decide the election and bloggers have tremendous power in the United states to help women understand whehter it's energy costs or health care or helping kids get to college. Who you vote for in this election will help decide how it's going to happen.
And I'm going somewhat analog. Among the ton of BlogHer swag I received was a little black book titled the Internet Password Organizer. It's a simple idea - it resembles an address book with alphabetized pages. But instead of phone numbers, you record websites and passwords. When I saw it in the beautiful bag I received from Silicon Valley Moms Blog, I didn't think I would have a use for it, as I kept every password email I ever received in an Outlook folder and could do a quick search whenever I forgot one.
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