Candidates' views

Barack's views on issues
ON EDUCATION: Obama believes that preschool, after-school, and summer programs help children. He thinks students should learn more math and science. He wants to help every American be able to go to college.

ON HEALTH CARE: Obama thinks that all Americans should have health insurance, children most of all. He wants the government to creat a new health plan that everyone can afford.

McCain's views on issues
ON EDUCATION: McCain believes that schools should be able to compete to attract the best teachers. He also believes that parents should be able to send their children to a different school if thet want to. He wants the government in Washington to have less control of education money and that is good for students who don't have los of money for college.

ON HEALTH CARE: McCain does not belives that people should have to have health insurance. He wants to lower taxes for people who busy their own health insurance.

Meet John McCain (Republican Candidate for President)

John McCain was born in 1963 at a U.S. naval base in the Panama Canal Zone, Central America. His father was a U.S. naval officer. John's family moved a lot before settling in Virginia. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy, in Maryland, in 1958. John attended flight school in Florida and graduated in 1960. He flew planes for the U.S. Navy, and later represented the U.S. Navy to the U.S. Senate. He retired from the Navy in 1981. He earned seventeen military honors during his years of service. After retiring, John and his wife Cindy moved to Phoenix, Arizona. His job there helped him start his career in politics. He was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1982 and re-elected in 1984. John was then elected to the U.S. Senate by a landslide in 1986. He has been a U.S senator ever since that year.

John McCain's military plane was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967. Both arms and a leg were broken. He parachuted into a lake, where he almost drowned before being attecked by enemy soldiers. He was a prisoner of war for over five years. He was released in 1973.
"...courage is not the absence of fear, but the capacity for action despite our fears." ---John McCain

Meet John McCain's family
John McCain was married to his first wife Carol for fifteen years. He adopted her two young sons, and together they had a daughter. After their divorce, McCain married Cindy Hensley. Now Cindy McCain is in charge of a large beer business that her father started. From 1988 to 1995, she ran a company that sent medical help to parts of the world with emergencies. Since then, she has worked with other companies that help people around the world. Together, John and Cindy have four children.

Meet Sarah Palin (Republican Candidate for Vice President)
Sarah Palin has been the governor of Alaska since 2006. Before that, she was the mayor of a city near Anchorage. She also has worked for a government agency that is in charge of oil and gas production in Alaska.

Meet Barack Obama (Democratic Candidate for President)

Barack Obama was born in 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. His mother was from Kansas, and his father was from Kenya, East Africa. His parents divorced when he was four. Barack's mother later married an Indonesian man, and the family moved to Indonesia. At the age of ten, Barack moved back to Honolulu to go to better schools. Barack moved to Chicago after graduating college in 1983. He later decided to get involved in politics. He thought that changing laws could help people.In 1996, Barack was elected to the Illinois State Senate. He served for six years. In 2004, Barack was elected to the U.S. Senate by a landslide. Four years later, he became the first African American in U.S. history to be the presidential candidate of a major political party.
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." --Barack Obama

Meet Barack Obama's family
Barack Obama is married to Michelle Robinson Obama. Michelle is a lawyer from Chicago. Barack and Michelle met while they both worked for a Chicago law company.

For three years, Obama was in charge of a Chicago organization that helped poor African American who had lost their jobs. The organization also set up a tutoring program for young people in poor neighborhoods. Michelle used to work for Chicago's city government. Then she worked for organizations that helped get young people involved in making the world a better place. Since 2002, she has held important jobs at the University of Chicago Hospitals.

The Obamas have two daughters, the older one named Malia (10 years old), the younger one named Sasha (7 years old).

Meet Joe Biden (Democratic Party for Vice President)
Joe Biden has been a U.S. senator since 1972. He is an expert on how to work with the governments of other countries. He has worked to stop terrorism and crime. He has also worked to help women and working families.