Analysis: McCain, Obama polar opposites

Heartily sick of the status quo, Americans will choose between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama this fall, two men who campaign as bipartisan reformers yet are polar opposites on virtually everything else, from ideology and biography to appearance and experience.

Over the next five months, a fragile economy and an ongoing Iraq war, as well as matters of age and race, will shape the monumental contest to succeed President Bush and become the 44th president.

McCain — 71, white and a veteran of Congress who vows never to surrender to al-Qaida — would be the oldest first-term president ever elected.

Obama — 46, black and a Senate newcomer who pledges to end the Iraq war — would be the first minority to achieve the White House.

"No matter who wins this election, the direction of this country is going to change dramatically," McCain said Tuesday in New Orleans. "But, the choice is between the right change and the wrong change; between going forward and going backward."

Obama countered in St. Paul, Minn.: "There are many words to describe John McCain's attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush's policies as bipartisan and new. But change is not one of them."

In line with conservative orthodoxy, McCain is a defense hawk who supports the troop-increase strategy in Iraq and opposes a quick pullout. He also favors tougher sanctions against Iran. He backs free trade and the extension of the Bush tax cuts that are the cornerstone of the current economic policy. He opposes abortion rights, and he favors school choice. He is a longtime advocate of fiscal restraint and a crusader against wasteful government spending. He takes a free-market approach to health care.

Obama has a record of liberal votes in the Senate. He opposed extending Bush's tax cuts on investments, a free trade agreement with Central America, drilling in the Arctic wildlife refuge, extending federal wiretap provisions and the confirmation of Bush's two Supreme Court nominees. Obama also opposes privatizing Social Security and supports abortion rights. He was against the Iraq war from the start and has made his calls for a pullout a bedrock of his presidential campaign.

Each candidate has five months to make his case.

[Credit: Liz Sidoti, AP; Photo: ABC News]

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What are some of the other differences you've seen between the two and how do those differences sway your vote?