This article compares the presidential candidates in the United States' 2008 presidential election. It does not cover previous elections. Because of

ballot access Elections in the United States refers to the rules and procedures regulating the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots. As the nation's election process is decentralized b ...

restrictions in the United States, not all candidates appeared on the ballots in all states.

Candidates

Those who were on the ballot in enough states to theoretically win a majority in the

U.S. Electoral College The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

are marked in bold. Candidates who are known to have appeared on at least two states' ballots are marked in ''italic''.

Biographical data

Economic issues

Tax policy

The third-party candidates' tax plans were not studied by mainstream media outlets and the Tax Policy Center. Chuck Baldwin supports replacing the income tax with a 10% across-the-board tariff on imported goods. Bob Barr supports replacing the income tax with a

consumption tax A consumption tax is a tax levied on consumption spending on goods and services. The tax base of such a tax is the money spent on Consumption (economics), consumption. Consumption taxes are usually indirect, such as a sales tax or a value-added ta ...

(the FairTax). The details of his exact plan are not known but consumption taxes tend to be regressive unless accompanied by a

negative income tax In economics, a negative income tax (NIT) is a system which reverses the direction in which tax is paid for incomes below a certain level; in other words, earners above that level pay money to the state while earners below it receive money, as ...

for the poor to offset necessary expenditures. Cynthia McKinney supports sharply

progressive taxation A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases.Sommerfeld, Ray M., Silvia A. Madeo, Kenneth E. Anderson, Betty R. Jackson (1992), ''Concepts of Taxation'', Dryden Press: Fort Worth, TX The term ''progr ...

, with higher taxes for the rich and a tax cut for the middle class.

Financial crisis and bailout

Trade

Health care

Taxation and budget deficit

Social Security

Network neutrality

Lobbying

Transportation

Labor

Monetary policy

NASA and space exploration

Foreign policy

Arab–Israeli conflict

Iraq

Iran

Darfur

Nuclear weapons

North Korea

Pakistan

Extrajudicial prisoners

Armenian genocide

China

Foreign aid

Georgia

United Nations

Energy and environmental issues

The environment

Energy

Domestic issues

Judiciary

Same-sex marriage

Abortion

Gun control

Death penalty

Immigration

Racial justice

Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research

Education

Patriot Act

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comparison Of United States Presidential Candidates, 2008 * 2008 United States presidential election