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McCain, Obama overlap on issues such as environment, immigration, Guantanamo

June 9, 2008

Democratic nominee Barack Obama and his Republican rival, John McCain, may be diametrically opposed on the biggest issues facing Americans, including extending President George W. Bush's tax cuts, ending the Iraq War, overhauling health care and appointments to the Supreme Court.

Yet on the many other policy questions, the two are surprisingly often in agreement, probably more so than any major-party candidates since 1976. Their positions are very similar on global warming, immigration laws, government transparency and the need to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay.

The two would support some sort of path to citizenship for illegal aliens, a move immigration foes deride as ``amnesty.''
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Their similarities may have much to do with the basic middle-of-the-road beliefs of many Americans, said Clyde Wilcox, a government professor at Georgetown University in Washington.

``America is a moderate country, and many of our elections have involved candidates moving to the middle,'' Wilcox said. ``But the devil is often in the details.''