In Debate Kennard Condemns McCain Technology Record

McCain has more experience than Obama, Kneuer said. The Republican “has been involved with these issues for a long time” and “clearly understands their value,” he said. McCain might have a longer resume, Kennard said, but he hasn’t done much on communications issues. “I can’t think of one legislative achievement John McCain accomplished as chairman of the Commerce Committee with respect to this specific sector,” he said. And McCain opposed the 1996 Telecom Act, the most significant legislation of the senator’s time, he said. Kneuer countered: “We can spend our time retreading the old fights… or we can talk about what the vision for the future is.”

Kennard condemned McCain for not outlining a technology policy. Unlike Obama, McCain doesn’t have anything about communications on his Web site, he said. “You have to wonder: Where’s the beef?” Kneuer brushed the criticism aside. McCain doesn’t need to lay out all his views on his Web site, because people can look at his voting record to find that out, he said. Besides the Obama Web site, there’s not many other places one could go to learn the Democrat’s perspective, he said.

McCain is wary of regulation that is possibly damaging, Kneuer said. There can be “unintended consequences when government lumbers into what is an incredibly dynamic area of the economy,” he said. “We need to continue to maintain an environment where we can continue to reap the benefits from innovation and investment that we have seen that have driven this massive revolution.” What the government should do is support scientific research, he said, saying McCain wants to make R&D tax credits permanent.

Obama wants to curb the influence of special interests on government and cool partisanship, Kennard said. “The FCC too often has been seen as a referee between big-money corporate interests,” he said. Also, “the FCC has become… too partisan a place,” he said. Obama isn’t taking money from federal lobbyists or political action committees, Kennard said. And Obama is “always seeking out the opposing point of view,” he said. McCain is influenced by special interest groups, he said. “I can give you any number of instances where John McCain tried to bully the FCC and other administrative agencies into doing things at the behest of special interests,” he said. For example, the Republican opposed the E-Rate because telecom companies didn’t want it, he said.

McCain’s record shows the senator’s willingness to cross party lines when making law, Kneuer said. McCain has crossed the aisle on immigration policy, which has implications for the communications workforce, he said. Kennard said he applauds McCain’s work on immigration. However, “my problem with his leadership is oftentimes there is populist rhetoric with no follow through.” During Kennard’s term as FCC chairman, for example, McCain testified before the agency in support of getting broadcasters to set aside time for political candidates, Kennard said. “But when it came time to advance that policy, John McCain was one of the biggest opponents.”

McCain supports deregulation for media ownership, Kneuer said. “We need to expand our definitions and our views on what media is,” including new media like the Web, he said. Obama wants to stop media consolidation, because people still get most of their news from TV and radio, said Kennard. Digital media are growing and should be considered, but they are still “nascent,” he said.

McCain will fight unfair network discrimination with enforcement, not legislation, said Kneuer. Legislation and antitrust law “are not mutually exclusive,” Kennard said. The government has a role in keeping networks open, he said. But Obama’s policy statement goes too far, Kneuer said. “The version that Sen. Obama has adopted is the one that is the most anti-innovation, anti-investment and speech-constraining imagined.”

Obama wants a national broadband strategy supported by the Universal Service Fund, said Kennard. The plan is linked to the senator’s other campaign goals, including health, energy and education, he said. McCain agrees with universal service policies, but believes shifting the inefficient USF program to broadband isn’t a good idea, Kneuer said. “We need to have enlightened and targeted policies to identify where there are gaps… and create the appropriate incentives,” he said. Obama’s policy isn’t a “realistic or thoughtful view of… how that program currently operates.” - - Adam Bender