Candidates are listed in alphabetical order. Positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found.
Candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria are listed last.

Pro (Yes)

Con (No)

Clinton, Hillary (D) - Con Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator (D-NY), at the July 23, 2007 CNN/YouTube Democratic Presidential Debate held in Charleston, SC, stated: "[Anderson] Cooper: Senator Clinton, do you think women should register for Selective Service? [Hillary] Clinton: I do. I don't support a draft. I think our all-volunteer military has performed superbly. But we've had women die in Iraq. We've had combat deaths of women in Iraq and Afghanistan. And I do think that women should register. I doubt very much that we'll ever have to go back to a draft. But I think it is fair to call upon every young American." July 23, 2007 Hillary Clinton

Top

Gravel, Mike (Lib) - Con Mike Gravel, former U.S. Senator (D-AK), offered the following in an article titled "Mike Gravel and the Draft" on his official candidate campaign website (accessed Jan. 10, 2008): "In 1971, Senator Mike Gravel (D-Alaska), by waging a lone five month filibuster, singlehandedly ended the draft in The United States thereby saving thousands of lives. As a result, aside from those who volunteered, everyone under the age of 54 has been able to stay out of harm's way in the tragic war against Vietnam, the first war against Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, and Bush's current war in Iraq. In addition, the children of everyone under the age of 54 have been able to stay out of harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan? In short, Senator Gravel's opposition to the draft is based on his desire to insure that no American man or woman is sent to a distant land to fight unnecessary and ill-advised pre-emptive wars of choice by reckless, ignorant, warmongering leaders." Jan. 10, 2008 Mike Gravel

	Top

Keyes, Alan (Ind) - Pro Alan Keyes, former Assistant U.S. Secretary of State, stated in a Jan. 19, 2000 article titled "Alan Keyes on C-SPAN's Washington Journal" on the Alan Keyes Archives website: "I have championed for a long time the view that instead of moving, as we did back during the Nixon era, into a voluntary kind of military service. I thought that was the wrong way around. I think that national service is an obligation of citizenship in a republic... ...I think part of...education ought to be universal national service. And I think that it would consist of having everybody, after they have finished high school, know that they were going to face two years--and regardless, by the way, of their status in other ways. Wealth wouldn't stand in the way. Nothing would stand in the way. And you would have to serve those two years. You would go through a first period of basic training, in which everybody would get the basic training that is given to people who are going into military life, and then I would offer people a range of options, including service in the various branches of the military, which would then be available to them to fulfill their two years of national service." Jan. 19, 2000 Alan Keyes

	Top

		McCain, John (R) - Con John McCain, U.S. Senator (R-AZ), stated in a July 13, 2007 speech titled "Senator McCain Addresses the Concord Chamber of Commerce on Defeating Our Enemies" on his official candidate website: "I am glad to see that troop increases are in the pipeline but current plans are not enough. As president, I would bring the army and Marines from the currently planned level of roughly 750,000 to 900,000. This will cost real money, some $15 billion annually, but it will not require a draft any more than similar levels did in the 1980s. It is vitally important for the next president to issue a call to service, to summon the young men and women of America to defend their country and its noble ideals. I am confident that this generation will answer the summons just as so many of us did in previous generations." July 13, 2007 John McCain

Top

McKinney, Cynthia (Grn) - Con Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. House Representative (D-GA), according to the Library of Congress: THOMAS website, on Mar. 20, 2002 cosponsored "H.Con.Res.368": "Expresses the sense of Congress that reinstating the military draft or implementing any other form of compulsory military service in the United States would be detrimental to U.S. long-term interests, violative of individual liberties protected by the Constitution, and inconsistent with the values underlying a free society as expressed in the Declaration of Independence." Mar. 20, 2002 Cynthia McKinney

Top

Nader, Ralph (Ind) - Con Ralph Nader, attorney, author, and political activist, stated in a Oct. 15, 2004 segment of Countdown with Keith Olbermann: "...I'm helping to push the Democrats toward opposing a military draft..." Oct. 15, 2004 Ralph Nader

Top

Obama, Barack (D) - Con Barack Obama, U.S. Senator (D-IL), at the July 23, 2007 CNN/YouTube Democratic Presidential Debate held in Charleston, SC, stated: "[Anderson] Cooper: Senator Obama, should women register for Selective Service? [Barack] Obama: ...I think that if women are registered for service -- not necessarily in combat roles, and I don't agree with the draft -- I think it will help to send a message to my two daughters that they've got obligations to this great country as well as boys do." July 23, 2007 Barack Obama

	Top

Paul, Ron (R) - Con Ron Paul, U.S. Representative (R-TX), offered the following in an article titled "Spread the Word" on his official campaign website (accessed Jan. 9, 2008): "Ron Paul does not support a military draft, and strongly opposes going to war with Iran." Jan. 9, 2008 Ron Paul

CANDIDATES WHO HAVE WITHDRAWN OR WHO NO LONGER MEET OUR CRITERIA      Biden, Joe (D) - None Found   Withdrew on Jan. 3, 2008; no position found as of that date Top      Brownback, Sam (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Oct. 19, 2007; no position found as of that date Top      Dodd, Chris (D) - None Found   Withdrew on Jan. 3, 2008; no position found as of that date Top    Edwards, John (D) - Con John Edwards, former U.S. Senator (D-NC), stated in an Aug. 11, 2007 article titled "Edwards Blasts Bush Administration On Draft Comments" on his official candidate website: "Let there be no doubt that the Bush Administration's new talk of a draft is a profound measure of how much this President has failed our brave men and women in the military, and the American people. This is exactly the wrong way to go. Our all-volunteer force has helped make America what it is today. I call on all Members of Congress - Republican, Democrat, and Independent - to speak with one voice, and say 'no' to a draft." Aug. 11, 2007 John Edwards Top      Gilmore, Jim (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Aug. 14, 2007; no position found as of that date Top      Giuliani, Rudy (R) - None Found     No position found as of Jan. 8, 2008. ProCon.org also emailed the Giuliani campaign on Oct. 13, 2007 with this question. They did not respond to our email or follow up call.   Top      Huckabee, Mike (R) - None Found     ProCon.org emailed the Huckabee campaign on Dec. 13, 2007 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Jan. 4, 2008.   Top    Hunter, Duncan (R) - Con Duncan Hunter, U.S. Representative (R-CA), in an Oct. 5, 2004 article titled "Statement of Chairman Duncan Hunter on the Rejection of the Democrat Sponsored Military Draft Bill" on GlobalSecurity.org, stated: "This overwhelming defeat will hopefully stifle those who seek to spread deliberately false information of an impending draft. We simply do not need a draft. The Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines are meeting their recruitment goals and are still attracting and retaining the people we need to fill all ranks. Our military today is highly qualified because it is comprised of an all volunteer force." Oct. 5, 2004 Duncan Hunter Top        Imperato, Daniel (3rd/I) - None Found ProCon.org emailed the Imperato campaign on Feb. 22, 2008 with this question. Mr. Imperato provided a response to this question and 26 others during a recorded 45-minute telephone interview with ProCon.org on Mar. 11, 2008. On Mar. 21, 2008 Mr. Imperato no longer met our eligibility criteria for inclusion on this site, and we stopped transcribing his verbal responses as of that date.   Top    Kubby, Steve (3rd/I) - Con Steve Kubby, a Libertarian candidate and founder of the American Medical Marijuana Association, stated in a Jan. 10, 2008 email to ProCon.org: "Under no circumstances will I ever support conscription. Not only is it unconstitutional -- the 13th Amendment clearly forbids involuntary servitude -- but it's wrong and it's stupid. America has never lacked for defenders when it came under attack, nor has it lacked volunteers in time of piece to DETER attack. If a politician starts talking about conscription, then he's almost certainly contemplating a non-defensive war and a war which few Americans would find worthy of support. A nation which has to draft its young men and women has obviously picked the wrong fight to put them in, and no government which considers the draft a legitimate policy is worthy of the loyalty of those whom it presumes to enslave." Jan. 10, 2008 Steve Kubby Top    Kucinich, Dennis (D) - Con Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Representative (D-OH), stated in an article titled "The Draft" on his U.S. House of Representatives website (accessed Jan. 10, 2008): "There are bills sponsored by both parties in Congress to create a draft. In 2004 the selective service system put up on their website a call for people to staff local draft boards. There was a commotion about it immediately after that went up; they took it down. There's a substantial amount of money in the budget to be able to put into effect the structure to create a draft... It's time for this nation, Democrats and Republicans alike, to come together and oppose all efforts to reinstate the draft. For the sake of our children and our future, we must end this wrongful war." Jan. 10, 2008 Dennis Kucinich Top    McEnulty, Frank (3rd/I) - Con Frank McEnulty, an Independent candidate and President of Our Castle Homes, in a Dec. 20, 2007 email to ProCon.org, stated: "No, it is not necessary at this time. The only time I believe a draft would be necessary would be in the case of a large scale, world war type of conflict." Dec. 20, 2007 Frank McEnulty Top      Richardson, Bill (D) - None Found     No position found as of Jan. 9, 2008. ProCon.org also emailed the Richardson campaign on Dec. 13, 2007 with this question. They did not respond to our email.   Top    Romney, Mitt (R) - Con Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, stated in a Sep. 14, 2005 speech titled "Homeland Security: Status of Federal, State and Local Efforts" given at the Heritage Foundation: "I do not believe in the draft. That's totally unnecessary." Sep. 14, 2005 Mitt Romney Top    Smith, Christine (3rd/I) - Con Christine Smith, a Libertarian candidate and a social and political activist, stated in a Feb. 27, 2008 email to ProCon.org: "No." Feb. 27, 2008 Christine Smith Top      Tancredo, Tom (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Dec. 20, 2007; no position found as of that date Top      Thompson, Fred (R) - None Found     No position found as of Jan. 11, 2008. ProCon.org also emailed the Thompson campaign on Dec. 13, 2007 with this question. They did not respond to our email.   Top      Thompson, Tommy (R) - None Found   Withdrew on Sep. 12, 2007; no position found as of that date Top      Vilsack, Tom (D) - None Found   Withdrew on Feb. 23, 2007; no position found as of that date

Home About Us Methodology Glossary Terms of Use Contact Us ProCon Homepage & More Topics