The words released by Sen. Barack Obama bluntly take a run off with the belief of Sen. John McCain concerning the subject of steroids in sports according to the news report by the Washington Post. Obama insinuated that steroids should not be given with high priority of the federal government or the Congress during his appearance on the ESPN Radio program of “Mike & Mike in the Morning.”

The Democratic presidential nominee did not directly mention the name of the Arizonan in the program; although, he uttered that he will track a course different to what McCain had tracked for the past when he was questioned as to how much should the government get involved with sports and performance enhancing drugs. Obama said, “I gotta admit that seeing a lot of congressional hearings around steroid use is not probably the best use of congressional time.”

McCain, on the other hand, had a contrasting idea about this matter. In fact, this man has been identified for sometime already with his efforts on the Hill to reveal steroid use in baseball. Like for instance, in 2004, McCain and his panel performed a high-profile trial on the subject; this was when he was still a chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. And his scrutiny had successfully pressured the owners of the Major League Baseball to employ new drug-testing policy. McCain explained in the following year that the league itself can no longer be trusted to handle the issue. In the same year, he also threatened to create a legislation that will crack down the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports.

Yet, Obama mentioned during the program that there were more vital things which the government must give more of its attention. “Kids are watching sport. They are modeling themselves on athletes,” he said. “It’s a serious problem, but it’s one that you want to see the leagues themselves handle in a more appropriate way. We’ve got nuclear weapons and financial meltdown to worry about. We shouldn’t be worrying steroids as much as I think sometimes we do,” he emphasized.

The campaign spokesman of Obama, Tomy Vietor, also stated that the comments of this Democrat were not actually planned to hurt the stand of McCain. Vietor explained on the side of Obama that he has a consistent view about this matter and has been constantly voicing it out. Like Obama, he also said that the great challenges including the economy and the wars between Iraq and Afghanistan are the ones that need more attention of the government. McCain campaign however did not give an abrupt response to a request for comment.

Nevertheless, Obama clarifies that although he strongly encourage the government to practice more hands-off on steroids issue; he still suggests for the government to practice the same thing as McCain did in selected areas of sports.

Finally, he also said that he will be asking his attorney general to investigate the chances of instituting a college football playoff system using executive order. Concerning to the NFL, Obama also uttered that he disagrees to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers playing in a domed stadium. “Unless you’re a Minnesota or Wisconsin you’re not allowed to have a dome, he stated. Because of this, he is also suggesting to pass a law to formalize such policy.

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