Urban Policy and the Presidential Race

I found an article in The New York Times a while ago (19 February 2008) that sums up the plight of urban policy in the 2008 US presidential race. Entitled "In Search of a Real Urban Policy", it outlines how all politicians – Democrats and Republicans alike – have pandered to the individual states' needs (like ethanol in Iowa and nuclear storage in Nevada) and ignored the core of American society: the cities.

John McCain's campaign website does not feature topics pertinent to cities. It does include, however, topics like the Second Amendment and the space program. This might be because most urban dwellers are Democrats. Still, McCain should make some attempt to appease to city dwellers.

Barack Obama's campaign website has a section exactly titled "Urban Policy". Key to his policy is reviving infrastructure. As I have written in an earlier post, our national infrastructure is almost at the point of collapse. By exiting the Iraq theatre, our funds can be placed here in America and not in Iraq.

Check out the NY Times article – "In Search of a Real Urban Policy" – and let us know what you're thinking.

Cheers - EJ