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.
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 to allow abortion at any time. 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. My opponent is of a more extreme view, that women and children and taxpayers should all be involved.
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 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: 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. First, we must guarantee benefits to those who are retired or are nearing retirement. Second, to get at the financial crisis, encourage those who have enough from their private planning for retirement, to throw their Social Security back into the system, to prolong it for all of us. Third, for younger workers, there should be personal accounts. But, I oppose them being privatized. I think that’s a mistake. I don’t trust Wall Street to manage this money, and I don’t trust the individuals to manage this money. It should be a government-run program with continued guaranteed benefits.
McGAVICK: We have got to win the war against radical Islamic terrorism. Sen. Cantwell voted for the war, and she was a strong supporter of the war. As the election has gone on, we’ve heard more about troop withdrawals. To suddenly withdraw from Iraq would give our enemy heart, and would give them a staging ground for terrorism against us. Now, I’m not satisfied with the progress we’re making. We need a select bipartisan group of Senators to develop alternative ways forward, to prevent creating a vacuum that would give Iraq to terrorists and allow them to follow us here.
GUTHRIE: Currently in Iraq we have a civil war. 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.