John Bolton in National Review
On Abortion:
Against abortion except for rape, incest, or maternal health
On abortion, I'm about the same as Reagan; I'm against it except in the cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
Bolton calls himself a Goldwater conservative, for the most part, at heart. (Goldwater, too, was more moderate on social issues later in his career.)
Source: Robert Costa in the National Review
Aug 22, 2013
On Civil Rights:
Supports gay marriage, at state and federal level
On gay marriage, I support it, at both the state level and the federal level. Gay marriage is something I've thought about at length as I've looked at my future. I concluded, a couple years ago, that
I think it should be permissible and treated the same at both levels. Bolton calls himself a Goldwater conservative, for the most part, at heart. (Goldwater, too, was more moderate on social issues later in his career.)
Source: Robert Costa in the National Review
Aug 22, 2013
On Homeland Security:
Voters care more about national security than media believes
Bolton wants to be president of the United States, or, at the very least, a provocative contender for the 2016 Republican nomination. "My hypothesis is that voters are practical and they care more about national security than the media seems to believe;
I think, right now, especially after two terms of President Obama, they want a president who has the know-how to lead during a crisis, a president who can defend our national interests," he says.
He concluded in 2011 that "I had to do something more for my party and my country than idly watching as the debate on foreign policy and
America's role in the world devolves into these bumper-sticker slogans, or veers toward the isolationist undercurrent that's growing."
Source: Robert Costa in the National Review
Aug 22, 2013
On Principles & Values:
Libertarian at home; but protected internationally
On domestic issues, he says, he's a self-proclaimed "libertarian," which he knows will jar people who think he's interested in running purely to irk Senator Rand Paul, another likely 2016 candidate and
Bolton's ideological opposite on foreign policy. "My argument is that you can't protect your liberties at home unless we are protected internationally," he says. "I think that argument can have currency across the
Republican spectrum.""I can go to voters and tell them, without reservation, that I'm for limited government, as much as possible, on taxes, on regulations, but on foreign policy,
I want to make sure we're protected," Bolton explains. "It'd be a mix of being against nanny-ism and libertarianism."
Source: Robert Costa in the National Review
Aug 22, 2013
On Principles & Values:
Campaigns are about the horse race, & should be about policy
We now live in a time where there's not a lot of focus on foreign policy, except for lurching from crisis to crisis. It was even hard for John McCain, when I was working for him back in 2000, to get attention for his foreign-policy positions until he
won the N.H. primary. We'd have him give a big speech on foreign policy and it'd promptly be ignored. Let's face it: Campaigns are now all about process, the horse race, and polling, and you can try to do something different, but it probably won't work.
Source: Robert Costa in the National Review
Aug 22, 2013
On Technology:
Because media runs debates, no one discusses the issues
"You may recall that I thought about running back in late 2011, and looked into it, but since running for president has become this massive, four-year endeavor, and I didn't have an operation in place, I decided against it," Bolton says. "Then I ended up
watching the Republican debates, and I got furious when I saw Herman Cain being asked about pizza before he was asked about foreign policy. I thought to myself, 'This is horrible. We're letting the media run these debates, and no one is discussing
the issues.' After that, I sat back and thought that if I had the chance, I had to do something more.""The money aspect, of course, is going to be critical," he says. "I'm going to find out if there's money out there to get behind a
foreign-policy-focused effort that has the threat of international terrorism at the top of its lists, as well as the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons, the ongoing collapse of the Middle East, and the threats from Russia and China."
Source: Robert Costa in the National Review
Aug 22, 2013
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