Abortion, gay marriage, guns.
These hot buttons rile up partisan voters like nothing else. As a result, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain tend to follow party lines here, but a few of their positions may surprise you.
Let's start with the social issue of all social issues - abortion.
Abortion
Democrat Obama says he has personal reservations about abortion because of his Christian faith. And he also believes the government should work to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. But he doesn't think the government should restrict the medical procedures available to women.
He backs abortion rights and doesn't want to see the landmark decision upholding legalized abortion - Roe v. Wade - overturned, nor does he support a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion.
Republican McCain said in a 1999 interview that he wouldn't support the repeal of Roe v. Wade, but that appeared to be a momentary break from his more typical anti-abortion responses.
Throughout this campaign, he has repeatedly said he wants the decision overturned and he will name Supreme Court justices who agree with him. He believes the federal government should get out of abortion policy, letting states decide the issue, though he would oppose a ban that doesn't have an exception for cases of rape, incest and when the mother's life is in danger.
"The difficult issue of abortion should not be decided by judicial fiat," says McCain's campaign Web site.
If it were up to the states, Utah most likely would be one of the first to outlaw abortion. The state passed an abortion ban in 1991, which was later deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. The state Legislature, which is dominated by Republicans, has considered a repeat attempt at an abortion ban as recently as 2007 and already is preparing legislation for debate in January.
Stem cells
The abortion fight, or more specifically, the debate over when life begins, permeates public policy on stem cell research, which some argue could hold the key to curing degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.
In 2001, President Bush restricted federal funding to cover only existing embryonic stem cell lines. Since then, Congress twice has passed a bill to expand stem cell research. The bill was co-sponsored by Obama and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, among others. McCain, though not a co-sponsor, also voted for it. Bush vetoed the legislation both times.
On this issue, Obama and McCain even agree on the limitations to stem cell research. They don't support the creation of embryos for research purposes. Any new stem cell lines must come from donated embryos that are left over from fertility treatments.
Gay rights
As the recent vice presidential debate showed, these campaigns have some similarities on gay rights as well. Obama and McCain say the government shouldn't interfere with same-sex couples on such basics as health insurance and other joint rights. However, Obama has been much more active in this area, particularly on legislation that would offer equal benefits for federal employees in same-sex relationships.
But the most significant differences emerge when the topic turns to gay marriage. McCain opposes anything other than marriage between a man and a woman. Obama doesn't like gay marriage either, but does support civil unions "with full equality under the law." He wants states to decide whether the civil union is called marriage or something else.
On this topic, Utah has already spoken. In 2004, the state overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
The most prominent state ballot initiative on gay rights this year is in California, where voters will decide whether to reverse a court ruling legalizing gay marriage. Obama opposes the ballot initiative and McCain supports it.
Guns
Both candidates say the Constitution grants citizens the right to own a firearm, but Obama is much more likely to support gun restrictions than McCain. The Democrat told the Politico in February, "We can have reasonable, thoughtful gun control measures that I think respect the Second Amendment and people's traditions."
On the campaign trail, Obama regularly makes the distinction between hunters in rural America and gangs in inner cities, saying the rules surrounding guns shouldn't be the same in both places. He supports a ban on assault weapons, and when he was in the Illinois Senate, he voted for a ban on all forms of semiautomatic weapons.
McCain, who says, "We have a sacred duty" to protect the Second Amendment, opposes bans on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, certain types of ammo and is against waiting periods to buy a gun, though he does support background checks at gun shows.
The two also differed on legislation that would have allowed people to sue gun manufacturers for crimes perpetrated using one of their products. Obama voted for it, McCain voted against it.
