With the recent debate between Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama reaching beyond the mere caviling typical of everyday political discussion, one subject was absent: the senators’ positions on animal rights. The optimist in all of us might wish to believe that there is simply nothing to discuss, addressing animal welfare is essential to civilized society.In fact, when the Associated Press recently quoted Senator Obama in his response to one such question, Senator Obama went on the record in support of the issue, by saying: “I think how we treat our animals reflects how we treat each other, and it’s very important that we have a president who is mindful of the cruelty that is perpetrated on animals.” Although the Las Vegas town hall meeting did not have as wide an audience as media broadcast debates, Senator Obama’s comment was at least a sign of recognition that the issue of animal rights deserves our nation’s attention, even if for now, it is only a brief spoken acknowledgment. Nonetheless to have his comments published on-line via mainstream media outlets is refreshing. With a panoply of topics regularly reaching the presidential candidates, let’s hope that the debates will soon broach the issue of animal welfare. Even if the support from either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama are eventually questioned and perhaps backfire, the benefits are still two-fold: concerned citizens would know the candidates’ stances and mainstream society might think a bit more often, even if just at the time they hear the discussion, about the importance of addressing animal welfare in our society.
I did some checking on the candidate’s stands, and Obama only rated a 60% from the Humane Society, while Clinton rated 100% (last time I checked, a couple of months ago.) This may also reflect societal policies; Obama has not sponsored as many bills towards the welfare of women, children, and health care as Clinton (from Library of Congress records.) Obama calls himself an animal rights supporter, but on his website under “Additional Issues” he proudly supports hunters and their “passion for their sport.” Clinton supports hunters’ rights as they are now, but does not trumpet that she is an animal rights supporter, even though her rating is better than Obama’s. I am Hawaiian, and Obama is pushing a bill that would relegate Hawaiians to the same federal “recognition” and jurisdiction as Native Americans here – and we all know how they feel about how they have been treated. So it all seems of a piece to me – Obama does not really care for animals or other racial groups, either.