Bookraft

The US Presidential Candidates are facing a barrage of questions and debates over the past half year. There have been over a dozen televised debates. And well they should be grilled carefully because after 8 years of torpor and turbulence in the Bush White House, the US is facing serious postponed problems and challenges in Iraq/Iran and world politics, energy/the environment, taxes/lobbying and buying influence, immigration/10million alien "residents", education/economic competitiveness, health care/diminished prosperity, but most important of all - how to avoid the worst divisive ruts and quagmires of gay rights and marriage, gun control, religion supported by the state, abortion rights and vicious political partisanship (think swiftboating).

There are many critical concerns that keep getting swamped by events or emotional issues where politicians play to their "base" voters. Meantime, key issues such as health care and energy/environmental challenges just get postponed or not seriously confronted. Debate is key to arriving at good solutions - yet there is a real danger that, remarkably enough, there is little time to decide wisely.

Little Time to Decide

But the problem even though the election itself is a year away, there is remarkably little time to decide:
* January 3 - Iowa Caucus
* January 5 - Wyoming caucus
* January 8 - New Hampshire Primary
* January 15 - Michigan Primary
* January 19 - Nevada Caucus / Republican South Carolina Primary
* January 29 - Democratic South Carolina Primary, Florida Primary
* February 2 - Maine caucus
* February 5 - Super Tuesday: Primaries for both parties in 19 states, plus three Democratic and one Republican primary
By February 6th, the two parties presidential candidates will likely have been decided. 2 months and the issue is decided because state governments have rushed forward to put their primary in front of all others.

There are three big risks associated with this rush to nominate. First, a lot of key issues can get swept to the side as the current "headline news" eats up attention and analysis. Second, the occurrence of vicious partisan, swiftboating attack politics thrives in these short time frames that do not allow the time to analyze and defuse false accusations. Third, there is a greater danger of premature election with later remorse - arriving at a candidate who as the election year plays out is discovered not to be equal to the full gamut of unfolding issues.

Where They Stand

So with this in mind, I offer a list of reputable websites who are tracking the candidates and their positions on key issues:

NYTimes - best so far with clear candidates positions on 6 key issues plus lots more
Washington Post - more scattered but also comprehensive with financing details
CNN - not so much the issues but coverage of the process
ontheissues.org - most comprehensive but also getting out of date
Digg - has the supermarket checkout counter of issues
The 3 TV networks, ABC CBS NBC, can be safely ignored.
Yahoo - very disappointing
And finally one could not do without the British view: BBC's Coverage