GUTHRIE: I believe you have the right to medical freedom. You get to choose the procedures that you undergo, not politicians. Your individual right translates into a woman’s right for reproductive freedom. I’m pro-choice. Most government programs are ineffective. I’d like to encourage education about birth control. I’d like to reduce the bureaucracy for adoption.
McGAVICK: I’m in the middle of the two extremes on this issue. I don’t believe that partial birth abortion should be used as a loophole. I do not believe that the taxpayers should be forced to pay for abortion. With underage pregnancies, parents have a right to be involved with that decision. Within these boundaries, I believe choice should exist.
CANTWELL: I support Roe v. Wade. It has been the law of the land for 30 years. More importantly, it has been voted on, by initiative, ad adopted by the people of this state.
CANTWELL: I voted for John Kerry. He matched our Northwest values. He won Washington state because he understood our values and would fight for them.
McGAVICK: I voted for George Bush because he understood that the single most important issue facing America was the war to defeat radical Islamic terrorism. I also thought it was more likely, given Bush’s record, that he would do more to reduce the debt than John Kerry.
GUTHRIE: The American people could see that the choices we had were terrible. Only 40% of registered voters voted-60% were not served, and were disgusted with the Democrats & Republicans. I voted for change. I voted for Michael Badnarik, who represented a new sensible center in politics, without the extremes of the Democrats & Republicans. My vote represented the values of America; we’re socially tolerant yet fiscally responsible. My vote counted because I didn’t fall into the trap of voting for the lesser of two evils.
CANTWELL: I want to protect Social Security. What I like about Social Security is that it’s a guaranteed benefit. It has progressivity, like for women who make less or live longer. To change that, by making it an investment as private accounts or personal accounts, changes the very nature of Social Security.
McGAVICK: You heard no plan from the incumbent for how to save Social Security. You only heard a list of what the incumbent opposes. I do have a proposal. We must guarantee benefits to those who are nearing retirement, while for younger workers, there should be personal accounts. But, I oppose them being privatized.
GUTHRIE: First, we must keep our promises to our senior citizens. But young people 25 and undershould have personal savings accounts. For the gap between 25 and 50, they can either opt-out and accept a lump-sum payment, or they can continue with the current system.
A: First, we must keep our promises to our senior citizens. We have an obligation to provide them with the benefits that they expect. But the young people I talk to, the guarantee rings hollow with them. Here’s what we need to do. For those 25 and under, their contribution should go into a personal savings account that would accrue interest and grow over time. For the gap between 25 and 50, they can either opt-out and accept a lump-sum payment, or they can continue with the current system. The demographics have changed on this issue, and the Democrats and the Republicans have no plan.
McGAVICK: We have got to win the war against radical Islamic terrorism. To suddenly withdraw from Iraq would give our enemy heart, and would give them a staging ground for terrorism against us.
GUTHRIE: Currently in Iraq we have a civil war. The Sunnis and the Shiites are battling each other in a blood feud. Saddam’s dictatorship prevented that before. The only thing we can do to prevent that civil war from continuing is to set up a repressive regime that’s almost as bad as the one we took out. The Iraqis want to control their own country. Our brave soldiers are doing their best, but we need to bring them home as quickly as is consistent with their safety.
CANTWELL: We do need to change the course in Iraq. To say that we’re going to stay there as long as it takes, or even indicate that we’re going to have permanent bases, is the wrong message to the Iraqi government.