The promises are getting more specific

In Focus -- Politics

McCain is proposing spending cuts through elimination of earmarks, but also backs more money for the military.

Still, the Arizona senator's priorities carry a cost that is easier to quantify than Obama's, said Aviva Aron-Dine, an analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

McCain backs making the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 permanent, repealing the alternative minimum tax, accelerated corporate tax write-offs and a doubling of the tax exemption for dependent children. Together, those measures would result in a $5.7 trillion reduction in federal revenue over 10 years, Aron-Dine said.

For now, all of those proposals are just ideas. It's not worth getting too caught up in costs, analysts say, because much will change as Congress weighs in and priorities shift over time.

The hiatus on lofty speeches will assuredly end if Obama gets the nomination. There would be a speech at the convention, and, possibly at an inauguration.

But then lists will return, in the form of budgets and legislation as the next president tries to turn campaign promises into reality.

[e-mail]