06 August, 2008

The Candidates and the Fifteenth Amendment

This is the thirteenth post in an ongoing series regarding the major Presidential candidates and their views on civil liberties.

This post is about Senator John McCain's (R-AZ) and Senator Barack Obama's (D-IL) views pertaining to the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The Fifteenth is less well-known than the Thirteenth, but we know all remember it has something to do with slavery, because that's what we were taught in school.

Well, here's the text.

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Well, this one is going to be short.

I can't find anything that's fact-based on either Barack Obama or John McCain suggesting that they might want to limit Fifteenth Amendment guarantees. (There is a lot of hyperbole about McCain and the Fifteenth Amendment out there. I've waded through some of it, and can't find any real facts, just rants).

Grades:

Obama: B

McCain: B

Fifteenth Amendment: No Advantage

Results so far:

Obama McCain
First Amendment* F
D-
Second Amendment D- C-
Third Amendment B B
Fourth Amendment D+ D+
Fifth Amendment D+ B-
Sixth Amendment B B
Seventh Amendment C C
Eighth Amendment C B
Eleventh Amendment B+ B-
Thirteenth Amendment D+ B+
Fourteenth Amendment D+ C+
Fifteenth Amendment B B

* Obama's First Amendment grade lowered as documented in this post.

UPDATE: Obama's First Amendment grade lowered to F as documented in this post.

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