Op-Ed: Are There Major Policy Differences Between Clinton & Obama?

This article lists and analyzes some differences among Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. For all the impassioned rhetoric from both candidates, it's more of a style difference than actual policies or voting records.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been slugging it out rhetorically lately for the Democratic nomination. Are there major policy differences between the two? The answer could be variances in style and approach rather than actual policies and views. Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate from Illinois in 2004. He kept a low profile for the first full year of his Senate term, learning the ropes from fellow colleagues. The Democratic leadership assigned him the issue of ethics reform which he took up with enthusiasm. He got into a fight with Senator John McCain, the co-author of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform bill. McCain accused him of exploiting it for political gain. At around the same time, Senator Hillary Clinton used her power to block the nomination of Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration because the agency didn't approve the over-the-counter sales of the Plan B emergency contraceptive. It proved to be successful in the end. William Galston, who is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and Clinton supporter, described the reasons why Hillary went to such great lengths to hold up the nomination of the FDA commissioner: ''Senator Clinton has been an advocate for women and children for all of her adult life. That's one of the core committments she brought with her into the Senate. So it's not surprising she would have gone to the mat over an issue she regards as fundamental.'' This strategy of cultivating an issue among voters seems to be working for both candidates: campaign-finance reform appears to be an important issue for the liberal, educated elite and having access to Plan B contraceptives is an important issue for Democratic women. However, if you examine their records more closely, you will find that they vote as liberals more often than not. They opposed the Supreme Court nomination of Justice Samuel Alito and voted for the same non-binding resolution for gradual troop withdrawal from Iraq. They supported funding for embryonic stem cell research. Obama is trying to convey the image as that of a maverick. He has strongly emphasized his early opposition to the Iraq war. Senator Clinton has tried to shed her partisan First Lady image. She has worked with Republicans on women's and children's issues, billions for post-9/11 recovery for New York and health care for firefighters, police officers and ambulance workers. Clinton supported a resolution last year designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. It passed 76-22. Obama didn't vote. ''Nonetheless, he jumped on Clinton's support as ''naive and irresponsible,'' using it as a not-so-subtle reminder that she had voted for the 2002 Iraq war resolution and suggesting the administration might use the Iran resolution to rush to war with Tehran.'' Clinton repeatedly mentions that the resolution doesn't say that the U.S. will use force and the president doesn't have the authority to go to war with Iran. Obama supports subsidies for ethanol producers and has voted for a 2005 mandate that requires refineries to mix ethanol with gasoline. Prior to two ethanol refineries opening in upstate New York, Senator Clinton opposed such measures claiming they would raise gas prices in New York. Now she supports the mandate. The 2005 Bush energy bill passed 74-26. Obama supported it because it invested money in renewable energy resources. Clinton opposed it because it also included $14 billion in subsidies to the oil and coal industry. However, Obama tried to remove some of the tax breaks from it. His efforts failed. Regarding ethics reform, Obama has pushed hard for an independent panel to investigate congressional ethics violations. ''Clinton has twice voted against it. She did, however, support a 2006 bill aimed at tightening lobbyist rules; he was one of eight senators opposing it as too watered-down.'' A possible difference between Clinton and Obama might be their support of a major Democratic constituency: trial lawyers. Senator Clinton won points with the legal class by voting against a measure trying to curb class action lawsuits by shifting them from state to federal courts. Obama voted yes on the proposal. I'm certain the trial lawyers will remember their votes.