PRESIDENT and VICE PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES
In August 2008, the League of Women Voters of the United States/Education Fund (LWVUS/EF) sent questionnaires to all candidates who met the following criteria:
The candidate must have made a public announcement of her/his intention to run for President;
The candidate must qualify for the ballot in enough states to win a majority of electoral votes; and,
The candidate must meet the Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act's minimum contribution threshold requirements for qualifying for matching funds, based on the most recent data publicly available on the FEC website as of August 8, 2008.
Responses were limited to 50 words and truncated after the 50th word.
The Maryland ballot will have additional candidates who did not meet the LWVUS/EF criteria and, thus, did not receive questionnaires. Their names, states, party affiliations and websites, when located, are included.
In addition, write in candidates for President who filed by September 12, 2008 also appear here alphabetically. However, no write in candidates will appear on the ballot but the list of filed write ins will be available at each polling place.
Salary: $400,000 per year
Term: Four years. Limit of two terms.
How Elected: Every four years political parties nominate candidates to run for President of the United States in a general election that is held on the first Tuesday in November of years divisible by the number four. The way the voters cast their ballots for President and Vice President determines how the members of the Electoral College will vote. See separate box on Electoral College.
Duties: The President is the head of state of the United States of America and is the Chief Executive Officer and the Commander in Chief of all military forces. The powers of the President are described in the Constitution and federal law. The President appoints the members of the Cabinet, ambassadors to other nations and the United Nations, Supreme Court Justices and federal judges subject to Senate approval. The President, along with the Cabinet and its agencies, is responsible for carrying out and enforcing the laws of the United States. The President may also recommend legislation to the United States Congress.
CLIMATE CHANGE: What, if anything, do you believe the federal government should do to control global climate change?
HEALTH CARE: What should be done at the federal level, if anything, to combat the high cost of health care?
ECONOMIC DISPARITY: What, if anything, should the federal government do about the growing economic disparity between the middle class and the well-to-do?
EDUCATION: What, if anything, should the federal government do to create the world’s best educational system for all children in America?
GLOBAL POWER: What should the U.S. strategy be towards rising global powers like Russia and China?
PRESIDENT and VICE PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES
(Candidates who have qualified for the Maryland ballot)
(Vote for no more than one)
BARACK OBAMA 
Illinois and
JOE
BIDEN
PARTY: Democratic
WEBSITE: www.barackobama.com
BIOGRAPHY: Obama began his career as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side and headed a voter registration drive. Obama practiced civil rights law and taught constitutional law. He served eight years in the State Senate before his election to the U.S. Senate. He graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law.
CLIMATE CHANGE: I believe the federal government should pursue multiple paths to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the threat of global climate change, including implementing aggressive cap and trade requirements to reduce U.S. emissions by 80% from 1990 levels and investing heavily in clean energy and advanced vehicle technologies.
HEALTH CARE: My healthcare plan will make aggressive investments in cost-cutting technologies and will place more focus on prevention and chronic care management. The net result will be to bring down the cost of healthcare spending by $2,500 for a typical family annually, and lower the expense of Medicare's services.
ECONOMIC DISPARITY: I will cut taxes for the middle class and roll back some of the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000 to restore fairness to the tax code. I will make long term public investments in R&D, clean energy, infrastructure, and manufacturing to create millions of good-paying jobs.
EDUCATION: I will strengthen public schools by expanding early childhood education, reforming and funding No Child Left Behind, recruiting and rewarding high-quality teachers, and expanding afterschool and summer learning opportunities. I will create a $4,000 American Opportunity Tax Credit and expand financial aid to make higher education affordable for all.
GLOBAL POWER: We must enchance our abilities both to collaborate and compete with China, while being vigilant about China's military mechanization and respect for human rights. As we seek a future of clear-eyed engagement with Russia, we must ensure Russia acts as a force for progress, not regression to past conflicts.
Copyright © 2008 by the League Of Women Voters Education Fund
JOHN MCCAIN 
Arizona and
SARAH PALIN
Alaska
PARTY: Republican
WEBSITE: www.JohnMcCain.com
BIOGRAPHY: John McCain graduated from the Naval Academy and served for 22 years as a naval aviator. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1982 and the senate in 1986 He has served as chairman of the Commerce Committee and ranking member of the Armed Services Committee.
CLIMATE CHANGE: I support developing a cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 60% by 2050, providing tax credits for alternative energy, promoting zero-carbon nuclear power, reducing the federal government's carbon footprint, funding research into clean-coal technology, and offering incentives for America's automobile industry to develop electric cars.
HEALTH CARE: Under my plan, American families will receive $5,000 tax credits to purchase insurance, either through empolyers or the private market - insurance that can follow them if they change jobs or leave the workforce. I will work for reforms to lower costs and provide coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions.
ECONOMIC DISPARITY: We must spur growth, create jobs, improve educational attainment, and enhance financial security. My plan will keep income and payroll taxes low, reduce the price of gas, double the dependent exemptions, bring down health-care costs, give deserving homeowners new fixed mortgages, slash our high business taxes, and expand trade.
EDUCATION: Our education system must focus on standards, accountability, and choice. My plan calls for recruiting highly qualified teachers in the neediest communities, empowering parents to choose the best schools for their children, expanding online educational opportunities, providing low-income families with access to tutors, and funding professional development for teachers.
GLOBAL POWER: As President, I will work to establish good relations with other nations. At the same time, I will stand up for democratic values and human rights, and I will oppose aggression and international lawlessness that threaten our security.
CYNTHIA MCKINNEY 
California and
ROSA CLEMENTE
North Carolina
PARTY: Green
WEBSITE: mckinney2008.com
Did not meet LWVUS/EF criteria stated above.
BOB BARR 
Georgia and
WAYNE A. ROOT
Nevada
PARTY: Libertarian
WEBSITE: www.bobbarr2008.com
Did not meet LWVUS/EF criteria stated above.
RALPH NADER 
Connecticut and
MATT GONZALEZ
California
PARTY: Independent
WEBSITE: www.votenader.org
BIOGRAPHY: Attorney, author, and consumer advocate, named by Time Magazine one of the "100 Most Influential Americans in the 20th Century." Over 4 decades of public service. Helped establish the OSHA, EPA, Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Safe Drinking Water Act, Motor Vehicle Safety Act, and Freedom of Information Act.
CLIMATE CHANGE: The government should stop subsidizing fossil fuels; oil, electric and coal mining interests. Invest in renewable energy that is efficient, sustainable, and environmetally friendly:wind and solar power. Encourage more efficient automobiles, homes and businesses. Ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Create an independent Oceanic Protection Agency. Adopt a carbon pollution tax.
HEALTH CARE: Adopt a private delivery, free choice of hospital and doctor, single payer public health insurance system. This would save $350 billion annually by eliminating exorbitant executive pay, advertising, computerized billing fraud and abuse, and apply those savings to comprehensively cover everyone without increasing taxpayer costs. Lower costs through bulk purchasing.
ECONOMIC DISPARITY: Unfair legislation allows the middle class to suffer while the rich entrench their status. To correct this we should enact a living $10 wage, adopt a fair tax, and provide equal pay for women. We must end corporate subsidies and bailouts. Repeal NAFTA and the anti-union Taft/h\Hartley Law.
EDUCATION: Increase civic education and decrease standardized testing. Repeal "No Child Left Behind" Act. Do not tie test performance to school funding. Provide full funding for pre-school and nutrition programs. Get product marketing out of the schools. Ensure that the nation's crumbling schools are repaired within 3 years.
GLOBAL POWER: The U.S. should be a humanitarian superpower. Our foreign policy must redefine global security, peace, arms control, and end to nuclear weapons, and expand the many assets of our country to assist with major initiatives against global infectious diseases. Stop support of foreign dictators. Human rights come before trade, profit.
bCHUCK BALDWIN 
Florida and
DARRELL L. CASTLE
Tennessee
PARTY: Constitution
WEBSITE: www.baldwin08.com
Did not meet LWVUS/EF criteria stated above.
DONALD K. ALLEN
Ohio
PARTY: Unaffiliated
WEBSITE: donaldkallenforpresident.com
LAWSON MITCHELL BONE
Tennessee
PARTY: Independent
THEODIS
(TED) BROWN, SR.
Missouri
PARTY: Independent
JAMES D. CRIVEAU
Virginia
PARTY: Non-Partisan
RAEDEEN R. HEUPEL
Montana
PARTY: Independent
WEBSITE: raedeen.com/
RONALD G. HOBBS
Pennsylvania
PARTY: Independent
KEITH RUSSELL JUDD
Texas
PARTY: Non-Partisan
FRANK MOORE
California
PARTY: Independent
WEBSITE: www.frankmooreforpresident08.com
LYNNE A. STARR
Florida
PARTY: Independent
BLAINE TAYLOR
Maryland
PARTY: Democratic