VoteMatch Responses (Click here for VoteMatch quiz)
VoteMatch Question & Answer (Click on question for explanation and background)	Based on these stances: (Click on topic for excerpt & citation)
Strongly Opposes topic 1: Abortion is a woman's right (0 points on Social scale)	Recommends pledging pro-life platform, VP, & judges: Opposes topic 1 Limit abortions via step-by-step laws: Opposes topic 1 Life begins at conception; abortion leads to “extinction”: Strongly Opposes topic 1 Restrictions now; persuasion to make them disappear: Opposes topic 1
Opposes topic 2: Require companies to hire more women & minorities (7 points on Economic scale)	No race or gender quotas nor preference: Opposes topic 2
Favors topic 3: Sexual orientation protected by civil rights laws (7 points on Social scale)	Would hire gays if they share his principles: Favors topic 3
Strongly Favors topic 4: Permit prayer in public schools (0 points on Social scale)	Ten Commandments & prayer in schools: Strongly Favors topic 4 School prayer OK; civil rights are local issues: Strongly Favors topic 4 No separation of religion from civic life: Favors topic 4 Posting Ten Commandments is ‘a positive thing’: Strongly Favors topic 4 Allow students to study Bible in schools: Strongly Favors topic 4
Opposes topic 5: More federal funding for health coverage (7 points on Economic scale)	Replace “gatekeepers” with health care vouchers: Opposes topic 5 Solve health care affordability with choice: Opposes topic 5 Expand Medical Savings Accounts: Favors topic 5 Consumerism works in health care: Opposes topic 5 More funds for veterans’ hospitals: Favors topic 5
Strongly Favors topic 6: Privatize Social Security (10 points on Economic scale)	Private Soc. Sec. accounts for younger taxpayers: Strongly Favors topic 6 Use surplus to fund personal retirement accounts: Favors topic 6 Choose personal account or government account: Strongly Favors topic 6
Strongly Favors topic 7: Parents choose schools via vouchers (10 points on Social scale)	Choice in education makes us more moral & more educated: Favors topic 7 Supports public school choice & private school choice: Strongly Favors topic 7 Supports tax-supported vouchers for religious schools: Strongly Favors topic 7 Parental control will work even in inner cities: Favors topic 7
Strongly Favors topic 8: Death Penalty (0 points on Social scale)	Supports death penalty; appoint judges to implement it: Strongly Favors topic 8
Strongly Favors topic 9: Mandatory Three Strikes sentencing laws (0 points on Social scale)	Stricter penalties, more prisons, longer sentences: Strongly Favors topic 9 “One strike and you’re out” for violent felons: Strongly Favors topic 9
Strongly Favors topic 10: Absolute right to gun ownership (10 points on Social scale)	Concealed carry OK; gun issues are local: Strongly Favors topic 10 Prosecute crimes done with guns; not buying guns: Favors topic 10 Key is to enforce 40,000 laws we have about guns now: Favors topic 10 Supports Second Amendment rights, with limits: Favors topic 10
Strongly Favors topic 11: Decrease overall taxation of the wealthy (10 points on Economic scale)	Top priority: throw out tax code: Strongly Favors topic 11 Signed no-tax pledge; will “end IRS as we know it”: Strongly Favors topic 11 Flat Tax of 17% on earnings over $36,000: Strongly Favors topic 11 Bible has 700,000 words; Tax Code has 7 million. Junk it.: Strongly Favors topic 11
Strongly Opposes topic 12: Immigration helps our economy-encourage it (0 points on Economic scale)	Support English immersion programs: Opposes topic 12 Toughen rules on illegal immigration: Strongly Opposes topic 12
Favors topic 13: Support & expand free trade (7 points on Economic scale)	Replace WTO with free trade to UK, Australia, & Pacific Rim: Opposes topic 13 Do free trade ourselves, without WTO: Neutral on topic 13 Hopes for WTO as worldwide arbiter & lowering barriers: Strongly Favors topic 13 Supports Fast Track presidential trade authority: Strongly Favors topic 13
Strongly Favors topic 14: Link human rights to trade with China (0 points on Social scale)	Taiwan: Unconditional US response defends against China: Strongly Favors topic 14 “Constructive engagement” is abject appeasement: Strongly Favors topic 14 China: Put commerce second to human right & proliferation: Strongly Favors topic 14 China: Block WTO entry until trade barriers fall: Strongly Favors topic 14 China: Promote democracy and capitalism for long-term: Favors topic 14
Strongly Favors topic 15: More spending on armed forces (0 points on Economic scale)	Percentage of GDP on defense is too little: Strongly Favors topic 15 Military has been hollowed with little to show: Strongly Favors topic 15 Stop “demobilizing” US military, or pay long-term price: Strongly Favors topic 15 Lack of military readiness hurts global economy: Favors topic 15
Strongly Opposes topic 16: Reduce spending on missile defense (Star Wars) (10 points on Economic scale)	Deploy an Aegis-style missile defense worldwide now: Strongly Opposes topic 16 ABM Treaty was a bad idea then and worse today: Strongly Opposes topic 16 SDI defends against rogue states’ nuclear blackmail: Strongly Opposes topic 16
Opposes topic 17: Seek UN approval for military action (7 points on Economic scale)	Russia: Replace IMF loans with 5 rules of prosperity: Neutral on topic 17 IMF & USAID create economic crises by hiding risk: Opposes topic 17 Russia: No aid to kleptocrats until they pay workers: Opposes topic 17 NATO: Admit Baltic States and others: Favors topic 17
Strongly Opposes topic 18: Reduce use of coal, oil, & nuclear energy (10 points on Economic scale)	Explore ANWR immediately, to reduce foreign oil dependence: Strongly Opposes topic 18 Kyoto Protocol based on flawed science & worse economics: Strongly Opposes topic 18 No real evidence of global warming: Strongly Opposes topic 18
Strongly Favors topic 19: Drug use is immoral: enforce laws against it (0 points on Social scale)	Drugs are designed to dull our moral integrity: Strongly Favors topic 19 Legalization makes America safe for Colombian drug cartels: Strongly Favors topic 19 No medicinal marijuana - create synthetics instead: Strongly Favors topic 19
No opinion on topic 20: Allow churches to provide welfare services (5 points on Social scale)	Federal welfare is devolving to state and community: Favors topic 20 Charitable deduction gone under Flat Tax; but giving is not: Opposes topic 20