| Disagree | Should marijuana be legal? |
I can't support the legalization of marijuana. Scientific evidence indicates that the moment that it enters your body, one, it does damage, and second, it can become addictive. It is a gateway drug.
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| Agree | Is the health risk of a psychoactive drug a legitimate reason to make it illegal? |
I can't support the legalization of marijuana. Scientific evidence indicates that the moment that it enters your body, one, it does damage, and second, it can become addictive. It is a gateway drug.
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| Mostly Disagree | Should abortion be legal? |
The exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother are legitimate [to an outright ban on abortions].
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| Mostly Disagree | Is abortion morally acceptable? |
The exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother are legitimate [to an outright ban on abortions].
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| Agree | Is the death penalty acceptable? |
I think that the new technology of DNA would, I think, provoke a review, clearly, of cases that may be questionable, but I certainly wouldn't abandon the death penalty.
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| Disagree | Would invading Iraq result in a quagmire? |
I am very certain that this military engagement will not be very difficult. It may entail the risk of American lives and treasure, but Saddam Hussein is vastly weaker than he was in 1991. He does not have the support of his people. And I'd ask one question: What member of the Iraqi army is willing to die for Saddam Hussein when they know he's going to be taken out? So I don't think it's going to be nearly as difficult as some assume.
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| Agree | Should the United States invade Iraq? |
I think the president has embarked on a well planned effort to rid the world in this country of the threat of the use of weapons of mass destruction by Saddam Hussein.
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| Disagree | Should the federal government ban gay marriage? |
The constitutional amendment we're debating today strikes me as antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans... It usurps from the states a fundamental authority they have always possessed and imposes a federal remedy for a problem that most states do not believe confronts them.
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| Agree | Is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a huge risk to the economy? |
If Congress does not act [by sponsoring the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005], American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.
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| Agree | Did complex life evolve through the process of natural selection? |
I happen to believe in evolution. ... I respect those who think the world was created in seven days. Should it be taught as a science class? Probably not.
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| Mostly Disagree | Should Intelligent Design be taught in science class? |
I happen to believe in evolution. ... I respect those who think the world was created in seven days. Should it be taught as a science class? Probably not.
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| Disagree | Should gay and straight couples have the same legal benefits? |
I think that gay marriage should be allowed if there's a ceremony kind of thing if you want to call it that. I don't have a problem with that. ...[but] I don't believe that gay marriage should be legal.
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| Agree | Is abstinence-only sex education effective? |
The guy I really respect on this is Dr. Tom Coburn [who believes abstinence only education is effective]. ... I look to people like [him]. I’m not very wise on it.
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| Agree | Should the US close Guantanamo Bay? |
I would close Guantanamo Bay. And I would move those prisoners to Fort Leavenworth. And I would proceed with the tribunals. ... Guantanamo Bay has become an image throughout the world which has hurt our reputation. Whether we deserve it or not, the reality is Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib have harmed our reputation in the world, thereby harming our ability to win the psychological part of the war against radical Islamic extremism.
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| Mostly Agree | Will genocide occur if the US pulls its combat troops out of Iraq? |
I fear the potential for genocide and ethnic cleansing in Iraq is even worse [than Rwanda]. The sectarian violence, the social divisions, the armaments, the weakened security apparatus of the state - all the ingredients are there. Unless we fight to prevent it, our withdrawal will be coupled with a genocide in which we are complicit.
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| Agree | Is oil a motivation for maintaining a military presence in Iraq? |
If we leave prematurely... this uncertain swirl of events could cause the region to explode and foreclose the opportunity for millions of Muslims and their children to achieve freedom... [and] the price of oil escalate dramatically and our economy decline...
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| Neutral | Can the US military presence in Iraq help create democracy? |
There are the first glimmers of progress under General Petraeus' political-military strategy. While these glimmers are no guarantee of success, and though they come early in the implementation of the new strategy, I believe they are cause for very cautious optimism.
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| Agree | Is global warming primarily caused by humans? |
The world is already feeling the powerful effects of global warming, and far more dire consequences are predicted if we let the growing deluge of greenhouse gas emissions continue...
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| Agree | Are gun control laws a serious breach of civil liberties? |
It seems like every time there is a particularly violent crime, the anti-gun crowd comes up with a plan to capitalize on tragedy and limit Second Amendment rights for all Americans. I opposed the ban on so-called "assault weapons" which was first proposed after a California schoolyard shooting. I thought it made no sense to ban a class of firearms based on cosmetic features. I opposed waiting periods for gun purchases...
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| Agree | Is free trade generally beneficial for a country? |
Every time the United States has become projectionist [...] we could pay at a very heavy price. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Acts in the 1930s were direct contributors to World War II. It sounds like a lot of fun to bash Chinese and others, but free trade has been the engine of our economy in the last half of this year; it will continue to be. ... Free trade should be the continuing principle that guides this nation's economy.
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| Disagree | Should the United States have Universal health care? |
I don’t think that there should be a mandate for every American to have health insurance. I think that one of our goals should be that every American own their own home, but I’m not going to mandate that every American own their own home. I think that every American should have, be available to, an affordable college education. But I’m not going to mandate that every American go to college. I feel the same way about health care.
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| Agree | Is Yucca mountain the best place to store nuclear waste? |
My preference is that we store [nuclear waste]. I always thought that Yucca Mountain was the right place to do it... It's not a problem of technology. It's a problem of political will. We have now the worst of all worlds, because we have nuclear waste sites around every nuclear power plant in America, which provides us with the greatest challenge to our security so I would try and resolve it and I would try to go back and revisit the Yucca Mountain issue...
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| Neutral | Should research on stem cells from human embryos be banned? |
As president, John McCain will strongly support funding for promising research programs [...] that do not involve the use of human embryos. Where federal funds are used for stem cell research, Senator McCain believes clear lines should be drawn that reflect a refusal to sacrifice moral values and ethical principles for the sake of scientific progress, and that any such research should be subject to strict federal guidelines.
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| Agree | Should the US fence its southern border? |
I come from a border state. I know how to fix those borders with walls, with UAVs, with sensors, with cameras, with vehicle barriers. They want the border secured first. And I will do that, and, as president...
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| Agree | Can you be patriotic without always having loved your country? |
I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company [whilst in solitary confinement in a POW camp].
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| Neutral | Is affirmative action fair? |
The issue [of affirmative action] in the early '90s was a little more complicated. I've never believed in quotas, and I don't. There's no doubt about my view on that issue. And that was the implication, at least, of that other vote.
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| Mostly Agree | Can the US military presence in Iraq help create democracy? |
[I hope that if I'm president, that] in 2013 the Iraq War has been won, Iraq is a functioning democracy, violence is much reduced, and America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure. The United States maintains a military presence in Iraq, but a much smaller one that does not play a direct combat role.
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| Disagree | Should oil be drilled in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? |
Quite rightly, I believe, we confer a special status on some areas of our country that are best left undisturbed. When America set aside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we called it a "refuge" for a reason.
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| Disagree | Should the US president talk face to face with Iran's president? |
...what [would] such a summit with President Ahmadinejad would actually gain, except an earful of anti-Semitic rants, and a worldwide audience for a man who denies one Holocaust and talks before frenzied crowds... [this] would harm Iranian moderates and dissidents, as the radicals and hardliners strengthen their position and suddenly acquire the appearance of respectability. [Instead] we must create the real-world pressures that will peacefully but decisively change the path they are on.
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| Disagree | Is Russia's invasion of Georgia justified? |
In the face of Russian aggression, the very existence of independent Georgia and the survival of its democratically-elected government are at stake. ... Whatever tensions and hostilities might have existed between Georgians and Ossetians, they in no way justify Moscow's path of violent aggression. Russian actions, in clear violation of international law, have no place in 21st century Europe.
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