Candidates and their take on some issues...

This is from the Family Research Council and has evidence to support each candidate's position. CHeck it out if you want. I feel that a person's character and moral compass tells us a lot of how they are going to vote and while we have religious liberty in the country, we still have a moral obligation to protect families and children as humans. While I am Pro Life I go back and forth on whether or not abortion is okay in the event of rape and incest. Because our constitution provides for every citizen the right to LIFE liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..the first one being LIFE. And the unborn doesn't have a voice yet, so who is going to speak for them and give THEM life? While abortion is currently legal, I am opposed that the government mandate that my hard earned tax dollars be spent on something I so much oppose. Fine, if it's legal, fine, but don't use MY money to fund it. It should NOT be federally funded. Anyway..off my soapbox.
JOHN MCCAIN
Party: Republican
Age: 71 (8-29-36)
www.johnmccain.com

BARACK OBAMA
Party: Democratic
Age: 46 (8-4-61)
www.barackobama.com

Today’s values issues involve many more questions and sub-questions than in years past, especially as a result of new topics and themes in bioethics, marriage and family law, which are themselves linked concerns. The following questions have been compiled by FRC policy experts to drill down on existing issues that are of interest to values voters. The answers have been researched and supplied by FRC Action’s researchers by analyzing campaign statements and votes.

RESEARCH ISSUES
What form of stem cell research would you permit access to federal funds?1
OBAMA Therapeutic cloning (SCNT)
MCCAIN Adult stem cell research
MCCAIN & OBAMA Leftover embryos derived from in vitro fertilization
MCCAIN & OBAMA Embryo destructive research
Human/animal hybrids
MCCAIN & OBAMA Umbilical cord blood banks

OBAMA NO Would you support a federal law prohibiting states from engaging in research in which (or which relies on research in which) a human embryo is destroyed?

MCCAIN YES
OBAMA NO Would you support a federal law prohibiting both reproductive cloning and cloning for research?

MCCAIN NO
OBAMA NO Would you support, and continue, President Bush’s ban on the use of federal funds for research on human embryonic stem cell lines created after August 2001?3

MCCAIN APPLY AS WRITTEN
OBAMA PERSONAL BELIEFS Would you appoint as judges men and women who interpret a law in accordance with their personal beliefs, or apply it as written whether they would have written it that way themselves or not?4

MCCAIN NO
OBAMA YES Do you support Medicaid-funded abortions?5

MCCAIN YES Would you support laws requiring abortion clinics to show all women an ultrasound image of their unborn baby?6

MCCAIN SUPPORT
OBAMA OPPOSE Would you support or oppose a federal parental notification law?7

MCCAIN YES
OBAMA NO Would you fight to protect the integrity of federally defined abstinence-until-marriage education ("A-H criteria," without being watered down just to the delay of sexual initiation)?8

MCCAIN NO
OBAMA NO Do you support a U.S. constitutional amendment to define and protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman?9

If you support a U.S. constitutional amendment to define and protect marriage, what provisions do you believe should be included in such an amendment?
a) create a fixed definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman nationwide
b) prohibit judges from requiring that marriage or its legal benefits be conferred upon any union other than the union of one man and one woman
c) prohibit judges or legislatures from conferring marriage or its legal benefits on any union other than the marriage of one man to one woman
d) prohibit judges from requiring that states recognize same-sex "marriages" from other states


If you do not support a U.S. constitutional amendment to define and protect marriage now, would any of these hypothetical future circumstances allow you to support such an amendment?10
a) if additional state supreme courts require that the legal rights and benefits of marriage be granted to same-sex couples (as has happened in Vermont and New Jersey)
b) if additional state supreme courts require that civil marriage be granted to same-sex couples (as has happened in Massachusetts)
MCCAIN c) if one or several state supreme courts require their state to recognize same-sex "marriages" from another state
d) if one or several states legalize same-sex "marriage" through the legislative process
MCCAIN e) if the U.S. Supreme Court requires states to recognize same-sex "marriages" from another state (thus overturning a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act)
MCCAIN f) if the U.S. Supreme Court requires the federal government to recognize same-sex "marriages" and/or partnerships for any purpose under federal law (thus overturning a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act)
MCCAIN g) if the U.S. Supreme Court rules that same-sex "marriage" is a right under the U.S. Constitution


The Federal Defense of Marriage Act (1996) declares marriage to be the union of one man and one woman for all purposes of the federal government and declares that states do not have to recognize same-sex "marriages" from other states. Which of the following describes your position on the federal DOMA?
MCCAIN a) I would veto any bill that would weaken any provision of the federal DOMA.11
b) I would support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to codify the provision of DOMA that says that states do not have to recognize same-sex "marriages" from other states.
OBAMA c) I would support repeal of the provision of DOMA that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman for all federal purposes, thus freeing the federal government to give marital benefits to same-sex couples.
OBAMA d) I would support repeal of the provision of DOMA that declares states do not have to recognize same-sex "marriages" from other states, thus leaving courts free to require such recognition under the Constitution’s "full faith and credit" clause.

Religious Liberty

MCCAIN YES
OBAMA NO Will you support the continuation of the Faith Based Initiative (on the federal level) to guarantee the right of religious social service providers to access federal programs on an equal basis?

Which of the following comes closest to your position on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would grant federal civil rights protection on the basis of sexual orientation?
MCCAIN a) I would veto any bill to provide federal civil rights protection on the basis of sexual orientation.13
b) I would sign a bill to give federal civil rights protection based on sexual orientation, but not one that included protection for "gender identity."
c) I would sign a bill to give civil rights protection based on sexual orientation, but only if it had the broadest possible religious exemption.
OBAMA d) I would sign a bill to give federal civil rights protection based on sexual orientation and "gender identity."

Which of the following comes closest to your position on the proposed federal "hate crimes" law, which would allow the federal government to prosecute any "hate crime" anywhere in the country?
MCCAIN a) I would veto any federal "hate crimes" law, and leave prosecution of such crimes to state and local authorities.14
b) I would sign a federal hate crimes law covering the characteristics included in the 1964 Civil Rights Act (such as race), but not one with protections based on sexual orientation or "gender identity."
c) I would sign a federal hate crimes law that included sexual orientation and "gender identity," but only if it included strong and explicit protections for freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
OBAMA d) I would sign a federal hate crimes law that included protections based on sexual orientation and "gender identity."


Which of the following policies would you follow regarding the issue of homosexuals who wish to serve in the military?
MCCAIN a) I would veto any bill to overturn the statutory ban on homosexuals serving in the military.15
OBAMA b) I would sign a bill to overturn the statutory ban on homosexuals serving in the military.
c) I would end the Clinton-era "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy and resume the practice of asking military recruits about their sexual orientation, with the purpose of excluding homosexuals from the military.
d) I would continue the Clinton-era policy of "not asking" military recruits about their sexual orientation and advising them not to acknowledge such an orientation.
e) I would continue to prosecute both homosexual and heterosexual members of the military for the crime of sodomy under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
f) I would support removal of the crime of sodomy from the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Do you support or oppose federal legislation limiting the ability of government to take private land for private development purposes?MCCAIN SUPPORT

Do you support or oppose repeal of the federal estate (death) tax? MCCAIN SUPPORT OBAMA OPPOSE

Do you support or oppose legislative initiatives that emphasize border security over all other forms of immigration reform? MCCAIN OPPOSE OBAMA OPPOSE

Do you support/oppose President Bush’s decision not to renew the federal ban on assault weapons? MCCAIN SUPPORT OBAMA OPPOSE

Do you support removing the federal moratorium on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf? MCCAIN YES OBAMA NO

Do you support an immigration system that allows undocumented immigrants, who qualify by not having a decided criminal record, to learn English and become eligible to become U.S. citizens? MCCAIN YES OBAMA YES

Do you have a schedule for reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions? If so, what is it? 22
Cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 60 percent below 1990 levels (66 percent below 2005 levels) MCCAIN YES OBAMA YES