This election cycle is only about halfway through, yet it feels like it has gone on forever. With the candidates personally attacking each other and all the in-party conflicts that have been going, on it's easy to forget what the election is really about—the issues. Here's a run-down of where, in their own words (or from their own websites), the remaining Republican (Ted Cruz, John Kasich, and Donald Trump) and Democratic (Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders) candidates stand on a few key issues.
Immigration
Cruz: “As President, I will stop illegal immigration, build a wall that works, triple border security, and put in place the surveillance and biometric tracking to secure the border...and we need to reform legal immigration to protect American workers.”
Kasich: “The idea that we're going to deport all these people is ludicrous, and everybody knows it.”
“We can seal that border and anyone else who gets over, we send them back.”
Trump: “As President, I would be very, very tough on the borders, and I would not be allowing certain people to come into this country without absolute perfect documentation.”
“We want people to come into our country but they have to come into our country legally.”
Clinton: “We need comprehensive immigration reform with a path to full and equal citizenship. If Congress won't act, I'll defend President Obama’s executive actions—and I'll go even further to keep families together. I'll end family detention, close private immigrant detention centers, and help more eligible people become naturalized.”
Sanders: “As President, I will fight for comprehensive immigration reform that provides a roadmap to citizenship for the 11 million aspiring Americans living in this country. But I will not wait for Congress to act. I will take executive action to accomplish what Congress has failed to do and build upon President Obama’s executive orders to unite families.”
Healthcare
Cruz: “If I am elected President, I will repeal Obamacare and propose commonsense reform that makes healthcare personal, portable, and affordable. I will expand competition in the marketplace, empower consumers and patients to make healthcare decisions with their doctors, and disempower the government from getting in between doctors and their patients.”
Kasich: “Everyone knows that Obamacare must be repealed and replaced with something that actually works in line with America’s market-based principles to help Americans be healthy. So, let’s not only oppose Obamacare but also put in motion real solutions that will work to improve healthcare access by holding down costs and help Americans live healthier lives.”
Trump: “I would end Obamacare and replace it with something terrific, for far less money for the country and for the people.”
Clinton: “I've fought for quality, affordable healthcare my entire career. As President, I'll defend the Affordable Care Act, build on its successes, and go even further to reduce costs. My plan will crack down on drug companies charging excessive prices, slow the growth of out-of-pocket costs, and provide a new credit to those facing high health expenses.”
Sanders: “My view is simple: healthcare is a right, not a privilege. We spend far more than any other country on healthcare, but 29 million Americans remain uninsured and millions more are under-insured. That is unacceptable. The time has come for a Medicare-for-all universal healthcare system that provides every American with affordable, quality care.”
Abortion and reproductive rights
Cruz: “Life is a gift from God. It is our most basic right. Without life, there is no liberty. I have fought to protect the sanctity of life, including winning cases at the Supreme Court to restrict abortions.”
Kasich: “Throughout his career, John Kasich has been a strong, consistent and committed believer in the sanctity of human life. During his 18 years in Congress, John Kasich consistently opposed federal funding of abortion and voted to ban partial-birth abortions.”
Trump: “As far as Planned Parenthood is concerned, I'm pro-life.”
“Public funding of abortion providers is an insult to people of conscience at the least and an affront to good governance at best.”
Clinton: “Politicians have no business interfering with women's personal health decisions. I will oppose efforts to roll back women's access to reproductive healthcare, including Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.”
Sanders: “The decision about abortion is a decision for a woman and her doctor to make, not the government. I will not allow the right wing to deny women control over their own bodies by forcing clinics to close, extending waiting periods, or inventing other methods that create de facto abortion bans.”
Second Amendment
Cruz: “The right to self-defense is an essential component of the liberty we enjoy as Americans and is embodied in the Second Amendment.”
Kasich: “Gov. John R. Kasich continues to be a strong supporter of the right to bear arms and, as governor, has signed every pro-2nd amendment bill that has crossed his desk to defend this basic, constitutional right.”
Trump: “We love the Second Amendment, folks. Nobody loves it more than us, so just remember that.”
Clinton: “More than 33,000 Americans are killed by guns each year. It’s time to act. As President, I'll take on the gun lobby and fight for commonsense reforms to keep guns away from terrorists, domestic abusers, and other violent criminals—including comprehensive background checks and closing loopholes that allow guns to fall into the wrong hands.”
Sanders: “I will take the following concrete steps to reduce gun violence: strengthen and better enforce the instant background check system; close the gun-show loophole; make 'straw man' purchases a federal crime; ban semi-automatic assault weapons, which are designed strictly for killing human beings; and work to fix our broken mental health system.”
The criminal justice system
Cruz: “I’m proud to stand with law enforcement, to stand with the police and firefighters and first responders. They are American heroes. And they need a President who doesn’t vilify them and who doesn’t seek to tear us apart along racial lines and inflame racial divisions. Instead, we need a President who works to unify us behind shared American values.”
Kasich: “We love the police, but we've got to be responsible to the people in the community.”
Trump: “I have to say that the police are absolutely mistreated and misunderstood.”
Clinton: “Everyone in America should respect the law and be respected by the law. We need to end mass incarceration, use strategies like police body cameras to improve accountability, increase substance abuse treatment, and aim resources at criminals who pose the greatest threat.”
Sanders: “Our criminal justice system is broken. We must invest in jobs and education, not in more jails, ban for-profit prisons, end the failed 'War on Drugs,' eliminate mandatory minimums, make sure people with substance abuse problems end up in treatment instead of prison, and demilitarize police forces so that they don’t look and act like invading armies.”
Jobs and the economy
Cruz: “Jobs, growth, and opportunity will reignite promise for millions of American families who are currently being crushed by the Obama economy. Under the Cruz Simple Flat Tax, all income groups will see a double-digit increase in after-tax income and the current seven rates of personal income tax will collapse into a single low rate of 10 percent.”
Kasich: “I know what the formula is: cut taxes, you restrain the government, you don't let the regulators put you out of business and you grow jobs.”
Trump: “If you're going to create 10,000 jobs for a town that's in trouble and you need a piece of property, I'll tell you what, folks, I want to create jobs and I want to give the people that own that property more than it's worth.”
Clinton: “We need to raise pay, create good-paying jobs, and build an economy that works for everyone—not just those at the top. I’ll cut taxes for the middle class, raise the minimum wage, and ensure the wealthiest pay their fair share. I’ll invest in infrastructure and education. And I’ll help parents balance work and family.”
Sanders: “As President, I will invest $1 trillion to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure to put 13 million Americans to work in good jobs, invest $5.5 billion to employ 1 million young Americans and provide job training to hundreds of thousands of others, and create a Clean-Energy Workforce of 10 million good jobs through a 100 percent clean energy system.”
