Obama versus McCain

Now we have our two nominees, Barack Obama and John McCain. And I’m pretty sure that last night Al Gore endorsed both of them. The race is is that close. So just who are Obama and McCain?

Full name	Barack Hussein Obama II	John Sidney McCain III
Age	46	71
Date and place of birth	August 4, 1961 Honolulu, Hawaii	August 29, 1936 Coco Solo Naval Air Station, Panama Canal Zone
High school	Punahou School, a private preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii	Episcopal High School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria, Virginia
Higher education	Occidental College Columbia University (BA) Harvard Law School (JD)	United States Naval Academy (BS)
Sports	Basketball	Wrestling, boxing
Proudest academic achievement	President of Harvard Law Review	College class rank 894 out of 899 (fifth from bottom)
Religion	Episcopalian, Baptist	United Church of Christ
Spouse’s name, date and place of birth, and education	Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama January 17, 1964 Chicago, Illinois Princeton University (AB) Harvard Law School (JD)	Cindy Lou Hensley McCain May 20, 1954 Phoenix, Arizona University of Southern California (BA & MA)
Offspring	2 children	7 children, 4 grandchildren
Parents	Father was a senior economist for Kenyan Ministry of Finance, mother was an anthropologist, grandfather ran a furniture store, then sold insurance, grandmother worked in a bank	Father was a Navy admiral serving as Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command from 1968 to 1972, grandfather was a Navy admiral in World War II and was present at the Japanese surrender on the USS Missouri in 1945.
Political career	Junior U.S. Senator from Illinois, elected in 2004 Illinois State Senator, elected in 1996	Senior U.S. Senator from Arizona, elected in 1986 U.S Representative from Arizona, elected in 1982
Previous career	Community organizer and civil rights attorney, taught constitutional law at University of Chicago Law School for 12 years	U.S. Navy aviator, retired after 22 years with rank of captain, awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross
Board memberships	Public Allies (founding member) Woods Fund of Chicago The Joyce Foundation Chicago Annenberg Challenge (founding president) Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Center for Neighborhood Technology Lugenia Burns Hope Center	Project Vote Smart Gallaudet University International Republican Institute Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom Board of Visitors, United States Naval Academy
How spent the late 1960s	1967-1971, lived with his mother and her second husband in Indonesia	1967-1973, held prisoner in North Vietnam
Career path not taken	Turned down job offer from Tony Rezko, the Chicago real estate developer and political fixer recently convicted on public corruption charges	Considered joining the French Foreign Legion when it looked like he might be discharged from Annapolis for too many disciplinary infractions
First car	$2000 used blue Honda Civic, second car was $500 bright yellow hatchback Datsun 210	Red Corvette
Rich girlfriend story	Girlfriend took him to her rich white family’s country house where her parents were very nice and gracious, he took her to see an angry play by a black playwright where the mostly black audience “was laughing and clapping and hollering like they were in church”	Arrived late and drunk for weekend at house of girlfriend’s parents in Main Line Philadelphia suburb - after ringing the doorbell he promptly fell, crashing through the screen door, and her father sent him back to the train station
Big mistake	Sat in church pew for 20 years listening to Reverend Wright’s sermons without calling him on his anti-American rhetoric	Stayed on target for bomb run on Hanoi power plant, ignoring for a few seconds his plane’s radar warning tone for incoming surface-to-air missile that would shoot him down
Guilty feelings	His mother died shortly after he wrote his first book (“I might have written a different book – less a meditation on the absent parent, more a celebration of the one who was the single constant in my life.”)	Stole a washrag belonging to a fellow prisoner of war after he lost his own (“In the Old West the worst thing you could do to a man was to steal his horse. In prison the worst thing you can do to a man is steal his washrag.”)
Wish YouTube had the video	Worked 3 months for a Ralph Nader group in Harlem teaching the importance of recycling to minority students at City College	Served as “entertainment officer” for fellow prisoners of war in North Vietnam by reenacting plots of American movies from memory and playing all the parts himself
Unlikely endorsement	“We like Mr. Obama and we hope that he will win the election. I do believe he is like John Kennedy, a great man with great principles, and he has a vision to change America, to make it in a position to lead the world community, but not with domination and arrogance.” Ahmed Yousef, chief political advisor to Palestinian Prime Minister quoted in April 2008	"He’s a good guy. We are still good friends. He is the best man for President." First wife Carol Shepp McCain quoted in June 2008 in the The Mail on Sunday (but would she have endorsed Hillary Clinton as the best “person” for President?)
Memoir worth reading	Dreams from My Father (1995)	Faith of My Fathers (1999)