By Erika Tomatore, USCM Intern
August 25, 2008

Current presidential candidates, Republican Senator John McCain (AZ) and Democratic Senator Barack Obama (IL) have both been involved with The United States Conference of Mayors in the past several years.

Obama addressed the mayors for the first time at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Conference in June in Miami. In addition, he wrote the Conference Past President Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer saying that he endorsed the Mayor’s 10-Point Plan, Strong Cities, Strong Families for a Strong America. The 10-Point Plan is a bipartisan road map for mayoral priorities for their cities as developed by The Conference and a key Conference policy document used in Congress, the Administration, and nationally.

According to Obama, his first participation in U.S. Conference of Mayors events at the Annual Meeting, was like a homecoming to him. “While I stand here as a Candidate for President of the United States, I will never forget that the most important experience in my life came when I was doing what each of you do, everyday, working at the local level [in Chicago] to bring about change in our communities,” he said.

At the Annual Meeting in Miami, Obama said he wanted to let every mayor know that he will be an involved and supportive President of urban'suburban America. Obama even joked, “You know that if I’m President, I’m going to be paying attention to cities because if I didn’t, you guys could just talk to [Chicago Mayor Richard] Daley.” Obama said at the meeting that being involved at a local level taught him the fundamental truth that change comes from bottom-up. To further enforce his position that cities are the backbone to the regional governments, Obama in a style similar to Martin Luther King, repeated, “That’s why you need a partner in the White House.” From Obama’s point of view, the government people count on most is the one closest to the people, the cities and counties. Obama explained, “You know what happens when Washington puts up economic policies that work for Wall Street and not for Main Street because its your towns and cities that get hit when factories close their doors.”

The Annual Meeting in Miami demonstrated Obama’s consistent position as an advocate for change when he criticized Washington as “…remaining trapped in an earlier era, weighted to an outdated urban agenda.”

Obama said in his speech that if he becomes President, he would fully fund the COPS program, a Department of Justice program that helps law enforcement agencies implement and enhance community policing. Obama stated he would also restore funding for the federal government’s Community Development Block Grant Program, which, since 1975, has provided communities with resources to address a wide range of community development needs, as well as to recruit more teachers to our cities and to give them more money and support.

His domestic agenda includes dealing with the problem of crime in cities from the bottom-up. Saying that kids aren’t born criminals, when after school programs are cut and parents lose their jobs because of a slowing economy, that is what aggravates criminal activity among the youth of America. In Obama’s opinion, change starts in our homes.

In Obama’s closing remarks, he stressed the importance of the cities through an illustration of America’s history. “Throughout our history, its been our cities that have helped tell the American story. It was Boston that rose up against an Empire, and Philadelphia where liberty first rung up. It was St. Louis that opened a gateway West, and Houston that launched us to the stars. It was the motor city that built the Middle Class. Miami that built a bridge to the Americas and New York City that showed the world one clear September morning that America stands together in times of trial. That’s the proud tradition our cities uphold.”

McCain has also been involved with the Conference, participating in three Annual Meetings over the years. McCain’s first address to The Conference of Mayors was at the 67th Annual Meeting in June of 1999 in New Orleans, led by Conference President Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corrdini. That Annual Meeting focused on priorities for urban and suburban cities during the upcoming 2000 Presidential season. McCain’s second address was earlier that same year, 1999, at the 67th Winter Meeting of The Conference in January in Washington (DC) that included discussions on topics such as gun safety, school violence, and welfare-to-welfare programs, among other important topics concerning mayors. The 1999 Winter Meeting was chaired by Omaha Mayor Hal Daub.

McCain’s third address to the mayors was at the 74th Annual Conference of Mayors in 2006 in Las Vegas led by Conference President Long Beach (CA) Mayor Beverly O’Neill, which covered such issues as Immigration, poverty, rising gas prices and the energy crisis, tasers, internet predators, and Avian flu.

At that Annual Meeting, McCain told the mayors, “You are closest to the people and are keeping up with my conservative philosophy that the government closest to the people is the best government. And everyday you listen to your constituents and your citizens and you respond. I wish I could say that about where I work.” In conjunction with the Annual Meeting, McCain spoke at the Annual Luncheon Plenary Session and addressed issues concerning immigration, Iraq, federal spending policies, and Congressional earmarks. He also took questions from mayors at the end of his speech.

McCain’s address was a light-hearted and friendly speech that included anecdotal stories of mayors who are completely dedicated to their constituents. McCain also brought humor to the speech when he joked about past Arizona candidates that have run for the Presidency such as Berry Goldwater, Bruce Babbitt and himself. “Arizona may be the only state in America where mother’s don’t tell their children that someday they can grow up and be President of the United States,” he said. Humor aside, McCain also discussed important issues concerning mayors such as budget and wasteful spending of Congressional earmarks, the importance of nuclear technology to address the issue of climate change, and the energy crisis.

McCain’s address in 2006 in Las Vegas, two years prior to Obama’s address to The Conference in Miami in 2008, also expressed how the government that’s closest to the people is the most important.

McCain also met with Conference Leadership on May, 19, 2008 in Chicago in a first ever meeting between the travel industry and mayors with a major Presidential candidate. The meeting dealt with issues concerning the importance of travel promotion, the need to balance security and travel, and the nation’s ailing air travel system. The group was convened by the Travel Business Roundtable and occurred during the Annual Meeting of the National Restaurant Association.