I mean they’re both (Obama/McCain) believers in a managed/controlled society/economy - rather than believers in the free market concept (which was the original idea of the United Sates). It’s a pretty fundamental difference
The original Constitution gave the Federal government the power to regulate trade between the States, to levy taxes and duties, to borrow funds, to grant patents and copyrights, and to mint money.
I’d say that the Constitution gives the government a LOT of leeway in regulating a free market. I’d say the original idea wasn’t the wide-open free-for-all that Paulians believe, but rather regulated.
The issue is that the Federal government has gone beyond its original limits in what areas of life it can regulate, and to feed the beast taxes and duties have greatly increased beyond what is needed.
But it’s quite Constitutional for the government to regulate the economy. Please see Article 1, section 8.