Pay attention

Many residents of the Brownsville area are still feeling the glow from Wednesday’s rally and visit from Hillary Clinton. Now, just two days later, her top rival for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, Barack Obama, is scheduled to make an appearance here today to tell us why he would make the better president.

The closeness of the visits should be an advantage for Rio Grande Valley voters, as each candidate’s words should remain fresh in our minds so we can compare the two. That comparison is important, because their stances are similar in many areas, but vary by degree.

Those variances, however, can be important, especially if they affect the chances of getting a proposal through Congress.

For example, Clinton’s main policy goal, something that goes back to her husband’s days in the White House, is universal health care coverage. This, of course, requires universal taxation.

Millions of Americans already enjoy tax-funded health plans, from Medicaid to Medicare, and most recently the Children’s Health Insurance Plan. Extending the coverage to all Americans eases the burden on employers that now offer insurance to workers and often their families, but it also shifts the costs from those employers to the taxpayers as well.

Obama also wants to expand health care programs, but would allow adults to choose whether to enroll in a taxpayer-funded system or opt (and pay for) a private plan that best meets the needs of the client and his or her family.

They both oppose the war, although both have voted to continue funding it. Obama promises to begin reducing our troops in Iraq immediately, and plans to have all U.S. active military divisions out of the country within 16 months. Clinton told the Brownsville audience Wednesday that she would start pulling troops from Iraq within 60 days.

Both want to expand Head Start. Obama wants to improve No Child Left Behind efforts while Hillary has said she wants to scrap it, but hasn’t detailed if she would replace it with another accountability plan. Obama wants to offer premiums to teachers who can mentor new instructors or who work in rural areas and inner cities, while Clinton proposes establishing more public-private internship programs so students can gain specific training toward their careers or goals at a younger age.

Other issues are important to all Americans and specifically to South Texas, such as trade, immigration and the burden of taxes. Clinton so far has been light on specifics in her visits to the Valley; we trust that Obama’s statements will be more issue-oriented.

After all, voters can cast their ballots with more confidence if they have a better idea of just what each candidate intends to do with the presidency if he or she captures it.