McCain and Obama on Tech Issues

I’ve written a great deal about the reasons for my choices in the election this year over on my Threads blog, but I’ve largely viewed technology as a wash.

Today Jason Hiner of TechRepublic rates the candidates, though he emphasizes that this is not an endorsement.  He lists five critical issues, net neutrality, broadband development, R&D credits, H1B visas, and green technology.  I would have regarded all of those except for the H1B visas as part of my own top 5, and I probably exclude the visas on the simple grounds that I don’t know enough about them.

He says:

However, since McCain has presided over massive consolidation in the broadband market, and Obama is more likely to bring back and enforce the Clinton-era 1996 Telecommunications Act, which forced the telecoms to open up their lines to smaller resellers, Obama wins this one by a nose and that also gives him the overall nod as the candidate that could potentially have a stronger impact on the technology industry.

I wouldn’t vote solely on technology issues, and had already made my choice while rating this a wash, but it’s interesting to see a more detailed analysis.  Personally I’m more concerned about broader issues in science and science education.