I wouldn’t say that any one candidate has come up with everything on my wish list but here are a few things that I like about certain candidates (and which candidates have the opposing view). To give you an idea of where I stand on the issues, see below.

1) Taxation: Most of the Republican candidates have endorsed the tax cuts and pledged an effort to make them permanent if they are elected (this, in contrast with the Democrats which have all stated they will increase taxes or (obviously) be forced to because of entitlements they are pushing). This is the most important issue to me.

So on this list, put Romney, Giuliani and Thompson.

2) Oil company profits, renewable energy, drilling in Alaska: More than a few of the Democrats have stated that they think that we should use an oil industry windfall profit tax to fund research into alternative energy. I strongly oppose this (and most other Robin Hood taxations). To the best of my knowledge, none of the Republican candidates support this.
I support exploratory (or better) drilling in Alaska. Most of the Republicans support this.

3) Universal Health Care: I think that we DO need to constrain the runaway costs in health care but I do not believe that another government program is the answer. I would much prefer market reform than another entitlement program that will just add another tax burden.
Romney supports universal health care coverage but not via another government program. I am unconvinced that universal health care is necessary but if we are going to move in that direction I would prefer to keep the government out of it as much as possible.

I would give this one to Giuliani or Romney if Romney can find a way to accomplish universal coverage through market reform.

4) Spending, balancing the budget: While most republicans see themselves as the party of fiscal responsibility, I think we all know that they have failed to put this philosophy into practice during Bush’s time in office. This disappoints me greatly but it is still a key issue to me. No democrat has convinced me that they are up to the task (and with the entitlement programs they are pushing they won’t be able to do it). However, Giuliani has stated that his priorities are a balanced budget and low taxes).

5) Stem cell research: This one hits pretty close to home for me as my father suffered from Parkinson’s disease. I do believe in stem cell research (even from discarded fetuses). Giuliani supports this (as do most of the Democrat candidates). I do not believe, however that we should harvest fetuses solely for the purpose of research. Scientific advances will most likely end this debate (and remove the need to use stem cells from controversial sources).

6) Abortion: I am basically pro choice as a government policy but pro life personally. I.E. I do not think that the government should be in the business of deciding what women do with their bodies (late term abortions excepted).

Most of the Democrats are pro choice and the majority of the Republicans are pro life. Giuliani is pro choice.

7) Immigration: I am in favor of a more secure border and harsh treatment of businesses that knowingly hire illegals. However, I do favor some path to citizenship (assuming the illegal is required to learn english, etc).

Clinton supports a path to citizenship but I don’t like the fact that she wants to give it away with few requirements.
I am much more in favor of Giuliani’s plan that requires the illegal to learn english and have a steady job.

There are many more positions I could discuss, but that should be a post instead of a comment. I promise, at some point in the future I will get this done. In the meantime, these are my thoughts on some of the key issues.

Manly