Presidential Candidates Ignore African Issues

by Emily Bays
Editor-In-Chief
    The presidential campaign is in full swing at this point. The vice presidential candidates have been chosen and the attack ads are airing nonstop as John McCain and Barack Obama try to win over likely American voters. Both candidates have addressed the War in Iraq until they were blue in the face. We have enough knowledge about the candidate’s proposed economic and social policies to know their general beliefs. They have addressed North Korea, Iran, and Russia. So what are we missing?

    An entire continent. The presidential candidates have barely even acknowledged African issues, let alone provided any conclusive plans. Thirty-three of the 50 countries on the United Nations’ list of Least Developed Countries are in Africa. In Malawi, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, and Madagascar, close to 70 percent of the population is living below the poverty line.

    Searching in the “Foreign Policy” section of Barack Obama website, you can find only a few ambiguous statements about stopping genocide in Darfur and increasing aid to fight poverty in Africa. The statements offer no concrete policy proposals or anything more specific than a helpful and hopeful sentiment.  John McCain’s website doesn’t address his potential policies regarding Africa at all.
It is understandable that the candidates would not focus huge amounts of time on African issues. They need to win the support of the American people, after all, and the American people have other issues on their minds. However, the blatant dismissal of millions of victims of poverty, disease, and governmental oppression is reprehensible.

    America, and thus our next president, has an obligation to deal with these terrors.  Our stated goal upon entering Iraq was to fight terrorism and release the people from the shackles placed upon them by their oppressive leader, Saddam Hussein. John McCain, for the most part, agreed with these ideals. It is nonsensical, therefore, for McCain to ignore the victims of violence in Africa, despite the fact that they are witnesses to terrorism, often on the hands of their own governments, every single day.

    Obama and McCain, politicians that prize themselves on spreading justice and fighting corruption seem to sincerely believe that their responsibility regarding those problems is limited to the borders of their own country.  

    As America’s economy worsens and the war in Iraq continues, our presidential candidates are losing sight of the rest of the world.  It is absurd that Americans are accepting this blatant selfishness.