Survey of Presidential Candidates on Executive Powers

In 2000, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were not asked about presidential power, and they volunteered nothing about their attitude toward the issue to voters. Yet once in office, they immediately began seeking out ways to concentrate more unchecked power in the White House - not just for themselves, but also for their successors...

Legal specialists say decisions by the next
president - either to keep using the expanded powers Bush and Cheney
developed, or to abandon their legal and political precedents - will
help determine whether a stronger presidency becomes permanent.

"The
sleeper issue in this campaign involves the proper scope of executive
power," said Richard Epstein, a University of Chicago law professor.

Six
Democrats and three Republicans provided answers to the Globe survey.
Three GOP candidates did not respond to the survey: Former New York
mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and former
Tennessee senator Fred Thompson.

The Giuliani campaign instead
provided a general statement by its top legal adviser, former Bush
administration solicitor general Ted Olson. He said that a president
"must be free to defend the nation," but provided no specific details
about what limits, if any, Giuliani believes he would have to obey as
president - in national security or otherwise.

The refusal by some candidates to answer the
questions drew a rebuke from Representative Ron Paul, the Texas
Republican who has made strict adherence to the Constitution a
centerpiece of his campaign.

"What are they trying to hide?" Paul asked. "Why are they embarrassed to answer the questions?"