• None currently, but has promised to get a dog for his daughters after the election. 
  • Sam the English springer spaniel, Coco the mutt, turtles Cuff and Link, Oreo the black and white cat, a ferret, three parakeets and 13 saltwater fish.
  • Uphold Roe v. Wade - Voted against banning partial birth abortion.
  • Voted NO on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions.
  • "One of the things that I've always said is that abortion is a deeply moral issue.  And those who would deny that there is a moral component to it I think are wrong.  The reason that I make a decision to support the choice position is not because I don't think it's a moral issue but because I trust women to make a prayerful decision about this issue."
  • Overturn Roe v. Wade. Voted "yes" on banning partial birth abortions.
  • Voted YES on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions .
  • "John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench.  Constitutional balance would be restored by the reversal of Roe v. Wade, returning the abortion question to the individual states.  The difficult issue of abortion should not be decided by judicial fiat.  However, the reversal of Roe v. Wade represents only one step in the long path toward ending abortion.  Once the question is returned to the states, the fight for life will be one of courage and compassion - the courage of a pregnant mother to bring her child into the world and the compassion of civil society to meet her needs and those of her newborn baby.  The pro-life movement has done tremendous work in building and reinforcing the infrastructure of civil society by strengthening faith-based, community, and neighborhood organizations that provide critical services to pregnant mothers in need.  This work must continue and government must find new ways to empower and strengthen these armies of compassion.  These important groups can help build the consensus necessary to end abortion at the state level.  As John McCain has publicly noted, 'At its core, abortion is a human tragedy.  To effect meaningful change, we must engage the debate at a human level.'"
  • Does not support Education Vouchers.
  • "We need to invest in our public schools and strenthen them, not drain their fiscal support.  And for this reason I do not support vouchers.  In the end, vouchers would reduce the options available to children in need.  I fear these children would truly be left behind in a private market system."
  • Supports Education Vouchers.
  • "Choice and competition is the key to success in education in America.  That means charter schools, that means home schooling, it means vouchers, it means rewarding good teachers and finding bad teachers another line of work...It means rewarding good performing schools, and it really means in some cases putting bad performing schools out of business."
  • U.S. MUST LEAD GLOBAL EFFORTS TO REDUCE EMISSION; WOULD INSTITUTE CAP-AND-TRADE SYSTEM
  • Strengthened institutions and invigorated alliances and partnerships are especially crucial if we are to defeat the epochal, man-made threat to the planet: climate change. ... As the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases, America has the responsibility to lead. While many of our industrial partners are working hard to reduce their emissions, we are increasing ours at a steady clip -- by more than ten percent per decade. As president, I intend to enact a cap-and-trade system that will dramatically reduce our carbon emissions. ... Getting our own house in order is only a first step. ... We need a global response to climate change that includes binding and enforceable commitments to reducing emissions, especially for those that pollute the most: the United States, China, India, the European Union, and Russia.
  • U.S. SHOULD WORK TOWARD A GLOBAL EFFORT THAT WOULD INCLUDE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 
  • I believe climate change is real. I think it's devastating. I think we have to act and I agree with most experts that we may at some point reach a tipping point where we cannot save our climate. I don't think we're there yet, but the overwhelming evidence is that greenhouse gases are contributing to warming of our earth and we have an obligation to take action to fix it. I believe that America did the right thing by not joining the Kyoto Treaty. But I believe that if we could get China and India into it, then the United States should seriously consider -- on our terms -- joining with every other nation in the world to try to reduce greenhouse gases. It's got to be a global effort."
  • The goal of Obama's plan is to provide health insurance coverage to every American, through both public and private means. His plan would mandate that all children have health care coverage. Those who have insurance through their employers or who qualify for Medicaid or the State Children's Insurance Program (SCHIP) would be able to keep that coverage. For those who don't, Obama would create a new public insurance program. People could not be turned away because of illness or pre-existing conditions. Estimated annual costs for his program would be $50-$65 billion, financed by rolling back Bush tax cuts for people making more than $250,000.
  • Mandate health care coverage for all children.
  • Provide affordable health insurance that is portable (you can keep your insurance if you change or lose your job, etc.), for every American, regardless of illness or pre-existing conditions.
  • Offer a new federal public health insurance program, similar to the health care program for federal employees, available to individuals and businesses who don't have any other coverage.
  • Establish a 'National Health Insurance Exchange' for private insurance. It would act as a watchdog group to create rules and standards and make coverage more affordable to those who want private insurance. Participating insurers would have to offer benefits similar to those in the new public plan.
  • Require employers to contribute to workers' health care insurance.
  • John McCain believes that controlling costs is key to making health care more affordable, saving Medicare and Medicaid and protecting health benefits for retirees. He sets down three primary goals: paying only for quality care, offering diverse insurance choices responsive to individual needs, and restoring a sense of personal responsibility. He advocates market solutions, such as allowing companies to provide insurance nationwide. He believes individuals should have a variety of plans to choose from and would offer tax credits and health savings accounts to help pay for them. He favors allowing safe prescription drugs to be imported and more generic drugs to be on the market to control drug costs.
  • Provide a variety of insurance choices – nationwide and across state lines -- for people to choose from. The policies would be portable, following the individual, not the job.
  • Offer tax credits of $2,500 ($5,000 for families) to help pay for insurance coverage.
  • 'If we cannot have stronger labor standards, environmental standards, and safety standards, then my job as president will be to look at what effect this has on the economy overall. Let me give you a very specific example. It is true that some of the border communities along Mexico and Texas have benefited from NAFTA. What is also true is that there are enormous numbers of Mexican agricultural workers and farmers who've been displaced, and part of the reason that we've seen such a problem with immigration over recent years is the grinding poverty that exists in Mexico.
  • And so I can't look just anecdotally at where it has helped, I want to look at overall, can we improve this so that it's good not only for workers in Ohio and workers in Texas, but also good for workers in Mexico who right now can't support themselves and ending up coming here and potentially depressing U.S. jobs as well.' 'I voted against CAFTA and never supported NAFTA.'
  • Voted YES on free trade agreement with Oman.
  • 'NAFTA has had unambiguously positive impact on the United States. While the effects of the NAFTA are being closely monitored by supporters and critics of that pact alike, it has become clear that NAFTA represents an important component of our international economic policy, contributing to the creation of 300,000 new American jobs since its passage. It will likely be several more years before its full impact can be determined. The results from the first five years, however, unambiguously demonstrate that the agreement has a net positive impact on the U.S. economy.'
  • Pro-NAFTA, pro-GATT, pro-MFN, pro-Fast Track.
  • Voted YES on free trade agreement with Oman, CAFTA, Singapore, Chile, Andean Community, Vietnam, and for permanent normal trade relations with China.
  • Voted to leave gun-makers and dealers open to suit. Also, as Illinois state lawmaker, supported ban on semiautomatic weapons and tighter state restrictions generally on firearms.
  • Voted against ban on assault-type weapons but in favor of requiring background checks at gun shows. Voted to shield gun-makers and dealers from civil suits. 'I believe the Second Amendment ought to be preserved—which means no gun control.'
  • Supports a path to legalization for illegal immigrants that includes learning English and paying fines; toughen penalties for hiring illegal immigrants; voted for fence along Mexican border.
  • "We're going to have to secure our borders. And this past year, the Senate invested billions of dollars in improving border security. I think that's important because I think all Americans think that we should be able to regulate who comes in and out of this country in an orderly way, not only for the sake of our sovereignty, but also to avoid the hundreds of people who have been dying across the desert, the enormous costs that are placed on border states and border towns. I also think that we've got to be serious about employers' obligations to check to see whether somebody is here legally or not...There hasn't been a serious program of employer sanctions. That has to be put in place."
  • Supports a path to legalization for illegal immigrants that includes learning English and paying fines; toughen penalties for hiring illegal immigrants; voted for fence along Mexican border.
  • Says border security is the 'first and foremost priority.'
    "One thing we would all agree on, the status quo is not acceptable. We have to secure our borders. But we also need a temporary worker program, and we have to dispose of the issue of 12 million people who are in this country illegally. This issue is an important and compelling one, and it begins with national security. But we also need to address it comprehensively."
  • Supports relaxing federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.
  • McCain opposes embryonic stem cell research that uses cloned human embryos, but supports research using human embryos.
  • Supports bipartisan commission. Says higher payroll taxes on upper wage-earners are probably the best option. Opposes benefit cuts or raising the retirement age. 'Everything should be on the table.'
  • Supports private accounts. Says obligations can be met without raising taxes. 'As president, I'll submit a plan to save Social Security, and I'll ask Congress to do the same.'
  • Obama was an opponent of the war effort as an Illinois state senator, arguing that the fight in Afghanistan should be finished before the U.S. embarked on a 'dumb' and 'rash' war. He campaigned against the war in his 2004 U.S. Senate bid. In his presidential campaign, he has made his opposition to the war a central theme, telling voters that '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?' If elected, he says, he will remove one to two combat brigades each month and have all U.S. combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months.
  • In 2002 McCain voted to approve the use of American force in Iraq and remains supportive of President Bush's policies there. He has criticized management 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.' He has referred to terrorism as '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 said that the 'surge is working' and that withdrawal from Iraq 'means Al Qaeda wins.' He favors a continued presence of American forces in Iraq after the war has ended.