US Presidential Election Candidates

Texas, according to former President Bill Clinton, would be the litmus test that would decide the fate of his wife Hillary Clinton's presidential ambitions. The results in the primary elections to be held on March 4, 2008, in Texas, as well as in Ohio, he indicated, would determine whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would win the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

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Ron Paul, the maverick Republican candidate has declared that he would not endorse the John McCain, the leading Republican candidate. While it is confirmed that he will not be that he will not be running as a third party candidate, he has also stated that he would not be dropping out of the race for presidentship. He also seems to be tuning down his bid for the Republican nomination.

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Having faced a number of poor voting results in early campaigning rounds, former US Senator Fred Thompson has decided to withdraw from the presidential race on Tuesday.

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The Republican presidential hopeful John McCain is trying to raise funds in a flurry, before going onto the Florida primary scheduled for January 29, 2008. He will require the money in order to compete against fellow republican Mitt Romney. Romney, a successful businessman, has the capacity to run a campaign worth tens of millions of dollars. Aides of the senior senator from Arizona say the fundraising exercise is essential, as they believe Romney would put his personal fortune behind his campaign.

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President hopeful Fred Thompson is a well-known conservative Republican who is also a familiar face with the voters because of his being a television actor. His presidential campaign is based on his claim of having "come from outside to the congress". However, is Thompson's claim valid?

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Republican presidential candidate, Ron Paul's stand on many issues deserves praise. There is his campaign against taxes; Paul stands for abolishing Income tax and doing away, completely, with the IRS and the federal reserve. Besides, he has always stood for a non-interventionist foreign policy. He opposed the war in Iraq, and has called for the total withdrawal of troops. Most important, he stands for the reducing the power of the government to control the lives of Americans.

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Former Arkansas governor, Republican Mike Huckabee's campaign may be haunted by the ghost of rapist Wayne Dumond. While Dumond died in prison in 2005, Huckabee's rivals are reviving the controversy surrounding the 'special' efforts put in by Huckabee to grant parole for Dumond.

Freeing Dumond was a mistake, as the rapist went on to rape and kill two other women in Northwest Arkansas and in West Missouri. Huckabee himself has however, denied responsibility for freeing Dumond. He has consistently underplayed his role in the affair, saying that the process of granting Dumond parole was started by his Democratic predecessors, namely Jim Tucker and Bill Clinton, and that he merely supported Dumond's eligibility for being paroled.

However, media reports, including a 2002 article by Murray Waas in the Arkansas Times suggest otherwise. According to them, Huckabee, along with his key aide, went out of their way to lobby Dumond's case. Huckabee, it was alleged, was guilty of acting in a manner that deviated from accepted parole practice, including having an unrecorded closed-door meeting with the Post Prison Transfer Board, informally known as the parole board, to make Dumond's release possible. Some former parole board members have corroborated the facts stated in these stories, for instance that the board. One of them, Deborah Springer Suttlar, observed that Huckabee's appearance before the board was responsible for causing the voting amongst board members, which was against Dumond's, to turn in favor of it. Questioning why this should have happened, Suttlar has been quoted as saying, "The board members knew the governor’s position. And Huckabee knows what influence a governor has over a board. Who’s going to turn down a governor?” Seems like Huckabee will have a lot of explaining to do if he is to retain his position in the race for presidentship.

Mike Huckabee has often drawn criticism for being weak on illegal immigration. In 2005, as Governor of Arkansas, Huckabee had supported a bill that proposed to make children of illegal immigrants eligible for scholarships and in-state college tuition. His argument in favor of the bill was that it would allow children who had completed their schooling in Arkansas to have the same opportunities as their peers. It would also ensure, he maintained, that a child was not punished—by being denied educational opportunities that he deserved on academic merit, only because of his illegal status—for a crime committed by his parents.

While the bill was never passed, Huckabee's decision to support it was questioned. In 2007, when he was asked about it during a Republican presidential debate, Huckabee defended the bill on the following grounds:

a)     The bill required stringent conditions and applied only to a student who had schooled in Arkansas from the age of five to six years onwards.

b)     The student would need to have been an A-plus student, with an exceptional record, who had completed the core-curriculum.

c)     He had a drug- and alcohol-free record.

d)     He had to apply for citizenship."

However Huckabee was lying. As reported on www.politifact.com, the original bill only required that the student should have gone to an Arkansas high school for three years and graduated, and that they had to sign an affidavit to the effect that they intended to pursue citizenship.

Ron Paul's growing support, as recorded by various opinion polls, seems due, at least in part, to an increasing disillusionment being felt by the average voter towards most candidates, both Republicans and Democrats. In such a scenario, the American voter may see Paul as a more acceptable alternative.

Paul is a Constitutionalist, who does not believe in voting for anything that is not authorized by the constitution. As a result, he has consistently voted against prickly issues such as the military escalation in Iraq, or federal spending. He has stuck to his pledge of never voting for increase in taxes and advocated abolishing federal income tax. In fact, it his voting record that has earned him the title of 'Dr. No'.

As a qualified obstetrician, Paul believes life begins at conception and maintains a pro-life stand. Nevertheless, he believes decisions regarding maternal and fetal health should be taken at the state level, and that federal bans infringe upon the rights of the states to make laws.

Paul is loyal to the creed of 'principled libertarianism', with its firm belief in a smaller, less intrusive system of government that would enable citizens to live and seek fulfillment according to their choice. His call for constitutionally limited government has been well received. The views he holds may be working in Paul's favor. At a time when there is a perceivable shift in trend towards a libertarian ethos, Paul's candidature seems to be sending the right signals.

Republican Ron Paul is once again in the race for president. He ran earlier in 1988, and managed to garner almost 400,000 votes. What are the strong points in his campaign?

Paul enjoys a wide support base, including libertarians, conservative Republicans, and some anti-war Democrats. The former flight surgeon has built up a reputation for integrity. He is believed to always cast his vote to uphold the constitution, something that is rare in today's politics.

Paul voted against the war in Iraq, stating that such a war would not be constitutional. This comes in sharp contrast to most other politicians, republicans and democrats, who not only supported President Bush's call for war on Iraq, but favored continuance of troop presence in that country.

Going on to other issues, Paul voted against the Patriot Act. He stands for abolishing income tax and the IRS. He has also opposed controversial trade agreements such as CAFTA and FTAA. He has opposed the Bush government's war on drugs, advocating that decisions with regard to the use of medical marijuana should be left to individual states. He also supports the freedom of the internet.

However, Paul comes across as weak on certain other important key issues. He rejects the idea that that climate change is a result of human activity, and consequently, his campaign is weak on an environmental policy. He has voted for offshore drilling, as well as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Besides, he also supports ending subsidies and special benefits to energy companies. Paul has also come under criticism for holding racist views.