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Note: This guide is not complete, this is a starting point. Over time it will be sharpened and sources will be added. Feel free to comment with any missteps or additional information.

It’s an understatement to say that there is a large variety of Republican candidates running for President of the United States in 2008. With ten names (counting Thompson) it’s safe to say if you are looking to vote Republican that there is a candidate that is running that fits your values. In this post I am going to lay out each candidate in biography form so you can get to know the candidates and how they voted. With so much to cover I find it useless to include personal banter and will layout what each candidates stands for and what political views they hold. I will not be listing Jim Gilmore considering he has dropped out and will be discussing Fred Thompson considering he will most likely be running for President. Let’s get started, in no particular order with Tom Tancredo.

Tom Tancredo is a U.S. Representative from Colorado. Tancredo is best known for his staunch stance against illegal immigration. He even stated during a Republican debate that we should stop “all legal immigration” except for “family members and refugees”. Tancredo is strongly pro-life and voted against partial birth abortion as well as embryonic stem cell research and is rated 0% by Naral which indicates a pro-life voting record. Tancredo voted against gay marriage as well as gay adoption and for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Finally Tancredo supports a benchmark for November for “the Iraqi government to be in control of all 18 provinces of Iraq” and did not support the troop surge.

Sam Brownback is a U.S. Senator from Kansas. Brownback is strongly pro-life and considers himself “Pro-life Whole-life” meaning that not only is he against abortion but he stands for treating all life with great care which includes the “child in the womb and the child in Darfur”. Brownback has been strongly pushing for a “three state, one country” solution in Iraq with a Kurdish state, a Sunni state and a Shia state with Baghdad as the federal city. On the issue of oil prices Brownback’s answer would be “by us getting more supply in the system through biodiesel & biofuels, like ethanol from Kansas or Iowa. Us being able to drill more at home here in the US”. Brownback is against same-sex marriage voting for a constitutional ban and also no to adding sexual orientation to the definition of a hate crime.

Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, is the current leader in the polls for the 2008 Presidential run (according to a Fox News poll). Rudy is best known for being Mayor during the 2001 attacks on New York City. A strong supporter of the Iraq war Rudy called the Democrats’ time line for withdrawal “fundamentally irresponsible” and believes we should be proud of liberating Iraq from Saddam. Unlike other Candidates Rudy is pro-choice and says that allowing choice keeps the government out of people’s lives. Stepping out line from the rest Rudy is also pro gay rights and is against banning same-sex marriages. Giuliani also believes that we should “accept the view that scientists have that there is global warming and that humans contribute to that” and that “there is a way to deal with it and to address it in a way that we can also accomplish energy independence, which we need as a matter of national security.”

Fred Thompson is a former U.S. Senator from Tennessee. Fred Thompson is a what I would call a “sleeper candidate” that has been showing much promise in the 2008 elections. Many are convinced he is the one to beat and that will be seen as time progresses. With Thompson second only to Giuliani according to Fox News polls I think they may be right. Thompson is a self professed Conservative and is against abortion noting that Roe v Wade was “bad law and bad medical science”. Fred Thompson is skeptic of global warming noting the recent findings that other planets in our system such as Mars are also warming up. Thompson commented on the issue saying “NASA says the Martian South Pole’s ice cap has been shrinking for three summers in a row. Maybe Mars got its fever from earth”. Along side most fiscal conservatives Thompson supports the Bush tax cuts and believes that it stimulates the economy.

Ron Paul, a U.S. Congressman from Texas has been gaining a lot of ground as the most “non-Republican Republican candidate”. Ron Paul has been seeing a lot of publicity and is a bit of a star on the internet, one only needs to go on Technorati.com to see he is buzzing quite a bit. Paul is best known for his stance against the war in Iraq which many use to claim that Ron does not belong in the Republican party. Along with his stance against the war Paul is pro-gay marriage and voted no on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages. Paul is against the death penalty and voted yes on funding for alternative sentences rather than building more prisons. A fact that will please most conservatives however is Ron’s stance against abortion as well as embryonic stem-cell research. Paul has voted steadily against abortion and is rated 0% by NARAL which indicates a pro-life voting record.

Link suggested by a commenter: Paul’s stance on gay marriage.

John McCain is a Senator from Arizona and can be considering the strongest pro-Iraq candidate on the roster. McCain is another Republican candidate vying for the conservative vote. McCain is against abortion, voting against partial-birth abortion but has also voted for the expansion of embryonic stem-cell research. McCain believes that deciding on same-sex marriage should be left up to the states and voted no on a federal ban against same-sex marriage. McCain has been a staunch supporter of the Iraq War and has been quoted as to saying several times that he is “willing to be the last man standing for US involvement in Iraq”. McCain has been criticized for his bipartisanship on the issue of immigration but says “the American people expect us to sit down and work this issue out together” and believes that immigration reform is vital to our national security.

Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, has been losing steam in the race for the Presidency in recent months falling to fourth behind McCain. The issue that most seem to have with Romney is his stance on abortion, claiming to be pro-life; however his record as governor proves otherwise. An issues that Mitt has actually stood against more than just recently is same-sex marriage which he has repeatedly voted against and has stated that marriage predates our constitution and should not be debated. Romney believes that Washington is broken and wants to cut out the unnecessary and the wasteful to help decrease the national dept.

Mike Huckabee is a former Governor from Arkansas and is also a Baptist Minister. Huckabee is another Republican against abortion and agrees that the day Roe V. Wade is overturned will be a good day for America. Huckabee is also against embryonic stem cell research noting that he doesn’t “think it’s right to create a life to end a life”. Although pro-life, Huckabee is also pro-death penalty stating that the two are completely different. Huckabee stated “a death sentence is a result of a lengthy and thorough judicial process applied to a person deemed guilty beyond a reasonable doubt” but abortion is “far different from one person singularly deciding to end the life of a totally innocent and helpless unborn child”. Huckabee believes we need to finish the job in Iraq in the right manner and feels that opposing the troop surge is dangerous stating that to appose a sitting commander and chief is “while we’ve got people being shot at on the ground”.

Tommy Thompson is former Governor from Wisconsin and also a former U.S. Secretary of Health. Thompson is another Republican candidate that stands in line with the others on issues such as abortion, stem cell research and crime. Thompson made a remark about employers firing people solely on the fact that they were homosexual during a recent Republican debate in which he agreed that it was ok, and that it was up to the employer. Thompson later told CNN that he misinterpreted the question and was sorry. Thompson also made a comment to a group of Jewish social activists that making money was part of Jewish tradition. He later clarified himself saying “what I was referring to, ladies and gentlemen, is the accomplishments of the Jewish religion. You’ve been outstanding business people and I compliment you for that”. Part of Thompson’s political agenda is to reform health care and he is currently pushing for a “system centered on preventive medicine” stating that we wait for people to get sick rather than prevent it.

Duncan Hunter is a U.S. representative from California. Hunter is one of the forerunners strongly against abortion, in 2005 Hunter introduced The Right to Life act which would legally define “personhood” at the moment of conception giving constitutional protection and rights to the unborn. Hunter is another candidate against same-sex marriage and gay adoptions. Hunter received a %7 from ACLU which supposedly indicates an anti-civil rights voting record with votes supporting the patriot act and the pledge of allegiance. Very strong on abortion Hunter received a %0 rating from Naral voting against partial birth abortions, embryonic stem cell research and also voted yes on making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime.

For the sake of not writing a book (not yet anyhow) I did not include every single issue, feel free to read up on each candidate at ontheissues.org. Wikipedia is also a good source of information when citation is given so feel free to search the site but make sure what you’re reading has a source to back it up. There’s no doubt that there are a lot of candidates running but in the end there will only be one candidate running for President. When we finally have one man and one man/woman running for president I will be revisiting the issues. Feel free to reply and let me know what issues matter to you and what I missed that is important to you. Over time I will add your information to this stack so nothing is left out. If you would like, add your insight send me your thoughts as a comment. I will also be compiling links and sources so you can read each story and piece that corresponds with the issues.

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