Presidential scouting reports: a libertarian fan's guide to the World Series of politics

Reason, June, 2007 by David Weigel, Jesse Walker, Nick Gillespie

Cons: Gore's instinctual embrace of central planning inspired former reason Editor Virginia Postrel to dub him "the devil" In 2000 he called for spending massive amounts of money (using the hypothetical budget surplus) to pay down Social Security and create new assistance programs. Gore is the most famous and devoted backer of the Kyoto Protocols, which if implemented as written could prove economically devastating. As vice-president (and before that) he was one of the most hawkish Democrats, and he was on board with the Clinton administration's late-'90s calls for regime change in Iraq. There's no telling if his current Iraq war opposition is a change of heart or merely disagreement with the guy who took the job he wanted.

Bottom Line: Gore today is more liberal than the candidate who almost won in 2000, both for better and for worse.

REPUBLICANS

Rudy Giuliani

Vitals: Born in Brooklyn, Giuliani earned a law degree (and deferment from Vietnam service) and went to work for the U.S. Attorney's Office. In 1983 he became U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, winning fame that propelled him into the Big Apple's mayoral mansion. Even his enemies credit him with contributing to New York City's economic turnaround from 1994 to 2002.

Pros: Giuliani offers a lot to social liberals: He's pro-civil unions, pro-gay adoption, and pro-choice. He cut dozens of taxes in New York, from personal income taxes to hotel occupancy taxes. He also sliced the city's budget, commenting later that "you can find $1 billion in a $39 billion budget without affecting a single blessed thing." In 1999 he pushed for a school voucher program, and though that crashed on the launch pad he still advocates school choice.

Cons: The power of the presidency has expanded since 9/11, and Giuliani might be the candidate least trustworthy to use that power. As a U.S. attorney he shook down Wall Street traders he accused of insider trading, going so far as to put them in handcuffs in their offices. Apart from when terrorists attacked his city, Giuliani has no real foreign policy experience; his public pronouncements on the issues sound like reheated, bullish Bush-isms. Just as his tax cuts aren't a sign of a larger pro-market impulse, his liberal views on social policy don't extend to every peaceful personal behavior; New York smut fans still gnash their teeth at his crackdowns on pornography. Mayor Giuliani opposed a local term limits law passed in the mid-'90s, and after 9/11 he speculated about changing the rules to allow him to stay in power a bit longer. He's a longtime gun control booster, and his recent efforts to show otherwise haven't been convincing. (He said on one radio show that he "supports the First Amendment right to keep and bear arms.")

Bottom Line: Giuliani might be the most socially liberal figure to make a serious run for the GOP mantle since Nelson Rockefeller. He also might be the most personally authoritarian Republican candidate since Richard Nixon.

John McCain

Vitals: McCain's exploits in Vietnam made him famous: The young Navy lieutenant's A-4 Skyhawk was shot down by a North Vietnamese missile in 1967, and he spent five years being tortured in the Hanoi Hilton. He returned home a hero, married wealthy Arizonan Cindy Hensley in 1981, followed her west, and won a Phoenix-area House seat in 1982. In 1986 he won the Senate seat of the retiring Barry Goldwater, and in 2000 he nearly snatched the Republican presidential nomination from George W. Bush.