![\"mccain_thumb\"](\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2013\/05\/mccain_thumb.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n[undergo]<\/p>\n\n\n Barack Obama<\/strong>\u00a0Obama supports abortion rights. On Jan. 23, during his first week as president, Obamasigned<\/a>\u00a0an executive order restoring federal funding for international organizations that perform or promote abortions in foreign countries. During the October 15, 2008 presidentialdebate<\/a>, Obama expressed a willingness to support a ban on late-term abortions “as long as there’s an exception for the mother’s health and life.” During an April 2007 Democratic debate, Obama\u00a0said<\/a>, “I trust women to make these decisions in conjunction with their doctors and their families and their clergy.” At an\u00a0April 2008 candidates’ forum on faith and compassion<\/a>, Obama said that “there is a moral dimension to abortion, which I think that all too often those of us who are pro-choice have not talked about or tried to tamp down.” To reduce abortions, Obama advocates a comprehensive sex-education program in which both abstinence and contraception are priorities. He also says, “we should make sure that adoption is an option.”<\/p>\n\n John McCain<\/strong>\u00a0McCain favors keeping the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance; he has\u00a0voted<\/a>three times in favor of Senate legislation to affirm the reference. In an\u00a0interview<\/a>\u00a0with Beliefnet in September 2007, McCain said that “the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation,” and added that “the lady that holds her lamp beside the golden door doesn’t say, ‘I only welcome Christians.’ We welcome the poor, the tired, the huddled masses. But when they come here, they know that they are in a nation founded on Christian principles.” During his 2000 presidential campaign, McCain\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0the nation was founded on “Judeo-Christian values” but added that “political intolerance by any political party is neither a Judeo-Christian nor an American value.”<\/p>\n\n [and]<\/p>\n\n\n John McCain<\/strong>\u00a0McCain\u00a0supports<\/a>\u00a0the death penalty for federal crimes. He has voted to\u00a0prohibit<\/a>\u00a0the use of racial statistics in death penalty appeals and to ban the death penalty for minors. He alsosupported<\/a>\u00a0legislation to allow the death penalty for fatal acts of terrorism abroad and has said he would consider further expansion of capital punishment for other crimes. McCaindisagreed<\/a>\u00a0with the June 25, 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing the execution of child rapists.<\/p>\n\n Barack Obama<\/strong>\u00a0Obama has written that he thinks the death penalty “does little to deter crime.” He\u00a0supports<\/a>capital punishment in cases in which “the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage.” While a state senator, Obama pushed for reform of the Illinois capital punishment system and authored a bill to mandate the videotaping of interrogations and confessions. Obama\u00a0disagreed<\/a>\u00a0with the June 25, 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing the execution of child rapists.<\/p>\n\n John McCain<\/strong> McCain\u00a0supports<\/a>\u00a0vouchers that would allow students to attend public or private schools, including religious schools,\u00a0arguing<\/a>\u00a0that “it’s time to give middle- and lower-income parents the same right wealthier families have \u2013 to send their child to the school that best meets their needs.” In February 2007, McCain spoke at an event sponsored by the\u00a0Discovery Institute<\/a>, a think tank known for promoting the concept of “intelligent design.” He says that Darwin’s theory of evolution is “valid” but that students should be “exposed to every point of view.”<\/p>\n\n Barack Obama<\/strong>\u00a0In a February 2008\u00a0interview<\/a>\u00a0Obama said he supports charter schools “as a way to foster competition in the public school system,” and later he\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0he would double federal funding for charter schools if elected president. During the third presidential\u00a0debate<\/a>\u00a0Obama said he does not support the use of government vouchers to attend private schools “because the data doesn’t show that it actually solves the problem.” In an April forum with other Democratic candidates, Obama said he\u00a0believes<\/a>\u00a0in both evolution and the biblical story of creation and does not “think science generally is incompatible with Christian faith.”<\/p>\n\n John McCain<\/strong>\u00a0McCain\u00a0opposes<\/a>\u00a0drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge unless it can be done in an environmentally safe manner. However, he\u00a0supports<\/a>\u00a0lifting a ban on offshore drilling in light of recent oil price increases. During the 2008 New Hampshire primary, McCain\u00a0announced<\/a>that he would “clean up the planet” and “make global warming a priority.” As a U.S. senator, McCain has worked closely with Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) on\u00a0legislation<\/a>\u00a0designed to reduce greenhouse emissions through a market-based system and through the development of nuclear, solar and other alternative energy sources. He\u00a0pledged<\/a>\u00a0to toughen automotive fuel standards and\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0he will use diplomacy to convince India and China to address the threats of global warming. However, he\u00a0insists<\/a>\u00a0that U.S. energy policy must not impose “unsustainable costs on the economy.” McCain supports federal funding and preservation of national parks,\u00a0arguing<\/a>\u00a0that Americans should take “stewardship” of their “natural heritage.” He also\u00a0commends<\/a>\u00a0environmentally conscious evangelicals for sharing “a biblical obligation to care for our planet.”<\/p>\n\n Barack Obama<\/strong>\u00a0Obama\u00a0opposes<\/a>\u00a0drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge “because it would irreversibly damage a protected national wildlife refuge without creating sufficient oil supplies to meaningfully affect the global market price,” but has\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0he would\u00a0consider<\/a>\u00a0using offshore drilling as part of a “comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices.” He\u00a0says<\/a>that religion can encourage people to make sacrifices, and he hopes to rally other countries around the “importance of us being good stewards of the land.” In October 2007, Obamaproposed<\/a>\u00a0an energy plan that would require polluters to pay for their emissions via a “cap and trade” system and that would implement a national carbon emissions cap. In the U.S. Senate, Obama has co-sponsored the\u00a0Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act<\/a>\u00a0to cap emissions from industrial plants and oil refineries. He\u00a0supported<\/a>\u00a0a January 2007 meeting of a group of evangelicals and climate scientists to advocate measures to prevent global warming. Obama has also\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0for stricter restrictions on the amount of carbon in fuels and tougher fuel efficiency standards for cars. He\u00a0plans<\/a>\u00a0to allocate $150 billion over the next 10 years to create a “green energy sector” that would support up to five million new jobs.<\/p>\n\n John McCain<\/strong>\u00a0McCain\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0the faith-based initiative is “one of the more successful parts of the Bush Administration and I would continue it.” In 2003, he voted for a\u00a0bill<\/a>\u00a0that was a watered-down version of changes sought by President Bush to make it easier for religious groups to compete for federal grants. The bill never became law. He\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0groups receiving federal funding should be able to take religion into account in hiring.<\/p>\n\n Barack Obama<\/strong>\u00a0In a July 2008\u00a0speech<\/a>, Obama\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0a plan to establish a Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. It would expand upon President Bush’s faith-based initiative, primarily by allocating $500 million per year for summer learning camps that would aim to narrow the achievement gap between poor and wealthy students. Under Obama’s\u00a0plan<\/a>, groups receiving federal funding would not be allowed to take religion into account in hiring.<\/p>\n\n John McCain<\/strong>\u00a0McCain says marriage should be between a man and a woman and should be regulated by the states. He\u00a0opposed<\/a>\u00a0a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage because “it usurps from the states a fundamental authority they have always possessed.” McCainendorsed<\/a>\u00a0a 2006 Arizona ballot initiative to limit marriage to be between a man and a woman and\u00a0said<\/a>, “I’m proud to have led an effort in my home state to change our state constitution and to protect the sanctity of marriage as between a man and woman.” He also supported the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which banned federal recognition of gay marriage and domestic partnerships. He\u00a0supports<\/a>\u00a0the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and says that to “even reopen the issue” would be a “terrific mistake.”<\/p>\n\n Barack Obama<\/strong>\u00a0Obama says that he personally\u00a0believes<\/a>\u00a0that “marriage is between a man and a woman” but also\u00a0says that<\/a>\u00a0“equality is a moral imperative” for gay and lesbian Americans. He advocates the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) because “federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does.” He\u00a0supports<\/a>\u00a0granting civil unions for gay couples, and in 2006 heopposed<\/a>\u00a0a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. In March 2007, Obama initiallyavoided<\/a>\u00a0answering questions about a controversial statement by a U.S. general that “homosexual acts” are “immoral,” but Obama later told CNN’s Larry King, “I don’t think that homosexuals are immoral any more than I think heterosexuals are immoral.”<\/p>\n\n John McCain<\/strong>\u00a0McCain\u00a0supports<\/a>\u00a0tax credits to encourage individuals and families to purchase health insurance and says that increased competition in the insurance industry will drive down prices. In 2005, McCain and Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.)\u00a0proposed<\/a>\u00a0a national commission to study the nation’s health care system and outline proposals for addressing spiraling costs. McCain has\u00a0advocated<\/a>\u00a0making generic drugs more available to consumers and wants to ease restrictions on imported drugs to make prescriptions more affordable. In an April 2008speech<\/a>\u00a0outlining his economic policies, he called for wealthier Medicare recipients to pay higher premiums for prescription drug coverage. He\u00a0advocates<\/a>\u00a0tort reform to eliminate excessive damage awards on medical malpractice suits.<\/p>\n\n Barack Obama<\/strong>\u00a0When he formally declared his run for the presidency, Obama\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0his goal was to implement universal health care, or government health insurance for all Americans, by 2012 or “the end of the first term of the next president.” He has\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0“belief in universal health” care one of the “core values” of the Democratic Party. Obama\u00a0proposes<\/a>\u00a0a national health care plan, similar to that available to federal employees, that would allow individuals and businesses to buy health care. The plan would mandate coverage for children but not for adults and would be\u00a0funded<\/a>\u00a0in part by projected revenue from allowing President Bush’s tax cuts to expire.<\/p>\n\n John McCain<\/strong>\u00a0McCain\u00a0supports<\/a>\u00a0comprehensive immigration reform that addresses border security and what he calls the economy’s need for immigrant labor. He\u00a0believes<\/a>\u00a0in reforming immigration policy so that highly skilled foreign workers are more likely to remain in the country. McCain and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) twice co-sponsored a comprehensive\u00a0reform bill<\/a>\u00a0that would double the size of the U.S. Border Patrol. The bill, which was defeated in the summer of 2007, called for a border fence, a crackdown on employers who hire undocumented immigrants, a “path to citizenship” for undocumented immigrants and a “guest worker” program offering temporary visas. In response to the bill’s failure, McCain\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0he “got the message” that for many Americans, border security takes precedence over immigration reform.<\/p>\n\n [an]<\/p>\n\n\n John McCain<\/strong>\u00a0In 2002 McCain\u00a0voted<\/a>\u00a0to approve the use of American force in Iraq and remains supportive of President Bush’s policies there. He has\u00a0criticized<\/a>\u00a0management of the war but says pulling out would be a mistake that could lead to greater instability and future conflicts in the region. McCain has defended the moral justification for the war and has called it a “just war<\/a>.” He\u00a0has referred to terrorism<\/a>\u00a0as “a malevolent force that defiles an honorable religion by disputing God’s love for each and every soul on earth,” and the war in Iraq as “a fight between right and wrong, good and evil.” In a March 2008 interview with CNN, McCain\u00a0said<\/a>that the “surge is working” and that withdrawal from Iraq “means Al Qaeda wins.” Hefavors<\/a>\u00a0a continued presence of American forces in Iraq after the war has ended.<\/p>\n\n Barack Obama<\/strong>\u00a0Obama was an\u00a0opponent<\/a>\u00a0of the war effort as an Illinois state senator, arguing that the fight in Afghanistan should be finished before the U.S. embarked on a\u00a0“dumb” and “rash”<\/a>\u00a0war. He campaigned against the war in his 2004 U.S. Senate bid. In his presidential campaign, he made his opposition to the war a central theme,\u00a0telling voters<\/a>\u00a0that “they should ask themselves: Who got the single most important foreign policy decision since the end of the Cold War right, and who got it wrong?” During his campaign, Obama said he would remove one to two combat brigades each month and have all U.S. combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months of taking office.<\/p>\n\n John McCain<\/strong>\u00a0McCain has\u00a0promised<\/a>\u00a0to make the eradication of poverty a top administration priority, asserting that “a strong and vibrant America, one in which people can move up into the middle class, put their kids through college, work hard and one day retire in dignity, is critical to not only our economic future but to the very security of our nation.” In an April 2008 statement on poverty, McCain\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0that “as President, I will set aside the needs of the special interests to advance the interests of the American people, especially those 12 million children who deserve every opportunity to achieve the American Dream.” McCainvoted<\/a>\u00a0for a 1996 welfare reform bill that required more work for recipients and placed limits on the amount of time they could receive benefits. Although McCain voted for a bill to increase the federal minimum wage in February 2007, he has historically voted against minimum wage increases, arguing that they can hurt small businesses.<\/p>\n\n Barack Obama<\/strong>\u00a0In the Illinois Senate, Obama\u00a0helped author<\/a>\u00a0the state earned income tax credit, which provided tax cuts for low-income families. In September 2007, Obama\u00a0unveiled<\/a>\u00a0a plan to cut taxes for the middle class and senior citizens by eliminating corporate loopholes and tax breaks. He said that if elected president, he would aim to create 20\u00a0“Promise Neighborhoods<\/a>,” choosing places that have high levels of poverty and crime and low levels of academic achievement. In those neighborhoods, “a full network of services” will be provided “from birth to college.” In\u00a0The Audacity of Hope<\/em>, Obama describes what he calls America’s “empathy deficit,” writing that a “stronger sense of empathy would tilt the balance of our current politics in favor of those people who are struggling in this society.” Obama is a U.S. Senate co-sponsor of the\u00a0Global Poverty Act<\/a>, which calls on the president to develop a comprehensive agenda to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015. He has supported bills increasing the minimum wage.<\/p>\n\n John McCain<\/strong>\u00a0McCain opposes embryonic stem cell research that uses cloned human embryos. In 2006 he\u00a0supported<\/a>\u00a0a trio of U.S. Senate bills designed to increase federal funding for adult stem cell research, ban the creation of embryos for research and offer federal support for research using embryos slated for destruction by fertility clinics. In 2007, in what hedescribed<\/a>\u00a0as “a very agonizing and tough decision,” he voted to allow research using human embryos left over from fertility treatments.<\/p>\n\n Barack Obama<\/strong>\u00a0Obama\u00a0supports<\/a>\u00a0relaxing federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. He voted for the\u00a0Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005<\/a>, which was vetoed by President Bush. The bill would have allowed federal funding to be used for research on stem cell lines obtained from discarded human embryos originally created for fertility treatments.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Abortion \u00a0 Barack Obama\u00a0Obama supports abortion rights. On Jan. 23, during his first week as president, Obamasigned\u00a0an executive order restoring federal funding for international organizations that perform or promote abortions in foreign countries. During the October 15, 2008 presidentialdebate, Obama expressed a willingness to support a ban on late-term abortions “as long as there’s an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"bylines":[{"key":"328d606a-732d-4cd1-86e4-f9c0131ffc15","termId":921}],"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":false,"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,25,24,39],"tags":[],"bylines":[],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[],"research-teams":[517],"class_list":["post-74401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election-2008","category-politics-policy","category-religion","category-us-elections-voters","formats-report","research-teams-religion"],"label":false,"post_parent":0,"word_count":2486,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2008\/11\/04\/religion-and-politics-08-the-candidates-on-the-issues\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"table_of_contents":[],"report_materials":"","report_pagination":{"current_post":null,"next_post":null,"previous_post":null,"pagination_items":[]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Religion and Politics \u201908: The Candidates on the Issues","parent_id":74401},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Religion and Politics \u201908: The Candidates on the Issues","description":"Abortion \u00a0 [undergo] Barack Obama\u00a0Obama supports abortion rights. 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<\/figure>\n\nChurch and State<\/h2>\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\nDeath Penalty<\/h2>\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\nEducation<\/h2>\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\nEnvironment<\/h2>\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\nFaith-Based Initiatives<\/h2>\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\nGay Marriage<\/h2>\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\nHealth Care<\/h2>\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\nImmigration<\/h2>\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\nIraq War<\/h2>\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\nPoverty<\/h2>\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\nStem Cell Research<\/h2>\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n<\/figure>\n\n