“*I will veto every pork-laden spending bill, and make their authors famous.*”
- Arizona Sen. John McCain

While Sen. John McCain holds a sizeable delegate lead over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the race for the Republican presidential nomination leading into Wisconsin’s primary on Feb. 19, there are several conspicuous differences between the two candidates.

Let this mini-breakdown serve as a guide when you head to the polls on Tuesday.

Iraq:

Both candidates support committing more money and troops to the Iraq war effort. Huckabee has indicated he would like to increase defense spending to Cold War/Reagan era levels. The Bush administration currently spends 3.9 percent of our gross domestic product on defense, while Huckabee would like to push that to 6 percent.

McCain proposes a more aggressive plan to stabilize the region, bolstering the Iraqi police and using additional troops to accelerate political and economic reconstruction in the country.

Economy:

McCain supports cutting the corporate tax rate by 10 percent and slashing taxes for the middle-class. He is also an outspoken advocate for eliminating wasteful government spending.

“I will veto every pork-laden spending bill, and make their authors famous,” said McCain.

Huckabee is focused more on strengthening America’s infrastructure, committing money to rebuilding highways and other construction projects that will create jobs and capital for the economy.

Huckabee cites the increasing amount of time Americans spend stuck in traffic. He believes that improved infrastructure would greatly reduce such waste and result in greater economic contributions.

Education:

Both candidates advocate school choice, feeling that parents should have greater flexibility and freedom to take their children out of underperforming schools and place them in more successful environments.

Huckabee favors allowing individual states to set their own benchmarks pertaining to the No Child Left Behind legislation, and stated that “our future economy depends on a creative generation.”

McCain looks to reform a system that “seeks to avoid accountability.” He believes that our schools should compete to be innovative, flexible, and student-centered.

Healthcare:

McCain advocates allowing consumers to purchase healthcare across state lines in order to promote competition and lower cost. He also believes that health insurance should be more portable from job to job and place to place.

Likewise, Huckabee favors a more consumer-based healthcare plan that gives citizens more options and flexibility. He advocates a more preventive form of healthcare and calls the current system “irrevocably broken.”

Immigration:

McCain is devoted to tight border security and more aggressive cargo screening.

Calling it his number one priority, Huckabee has a multi-faceted plan that includes erecting a fence along the Mexican border by 2010.

He proposes a 120-day window for illegal immigrants to register with the Bureau of Citizenship and return to their native country, and to the back of the immigration line.

He opposes amnesty and will seek to punish employers who fail to adhere to immigration law. Finally, he supports modernizing the immigration process.

Platform information used from mccain.com and mikehuckabee.com.

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