The Presidential Candidates' Views on Executive Power

Must read IMHO. A bit of it.

A few months ago, it occurred to me that it would be useful to try to get all of the 2008 presidential candidates to state on the record whether they agree with the various controversial executive power claims advanced by the Bush administration. For instance, as president would they consider themselves to be bound by FISA? Would they consider themselves to be bound by treaties like the Geneva Conventions? Can the president indefinitely detain U.S. citizens as enemy combatants? What is the proper role of the signing statement? When can the president unilaterally authorize military action?

I actually went as far as starting up an email dialogue with a few prominent left-leaning bloggers regarding the feasibility of getting the candidates to respond to such a questionnaire. As is often the case, however, my day job intervened and I never got around to following through with it.

Fortunately, Charlie Savage of the Boston Globe not only had the same idea, he had the connections, influence, and persistence to see it through. The Globe submitted exactly the sort of questionnaire I had envisioned to all of the presidential candidates. Nine of them completed the questionnaire (6 Democrats, 3 Republicans), and the Globe has published their answers here.

Via Anonymous Liberal.