For anyone following the candidates for president at this early date, it will come as no surprise that being against terrorism is something that unites them all. Yet, unlike so many other issues CFR has undertaken to track, terrorism and how best to prevent it uniquely brings out the distinctions between candidates on both sides of the political divide.

In part, this reflects divisions not only between Republicans and Democrats, but also among them. In the Republican ranks, for instance, former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani has led the field in demanding others fall in line behind President Bush’s handling of the “War on Terror.” But rivals inside the party take serious issue with aspects of current Bush policy. John McCain, for instance, says he believes Bush lacked legal authority to authorize the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens telephone calls. Ron Paul, the libertarian, views any invasion of privacy is an overstepping by government. Mitt Romney, on the other hands, wants to expand NSA activities domestically, including a proposal to wiretap all mosques in the country.

Democrats, by virtue of the fact that they all sit in opposition to the president, tend to be more united. But here, too, gradations show through. Democrats universally viewed the NSA wiretapping as an abuse of executive power, yet divide on other issues. For instance, senators Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, and John Edwards all voted in favor of the Patriot Act in 2001, the legal antecedent cited by the White House for many of the decisions these candidates now oppose. Among the legislators running, only Rep. Dennis Kucinich opposed it — though Barack Obama, then a state Senator from Illinois, says he would have opposed it had he been asked for his vote. Edwards, meanwhile, has denounced the “War on Terror” as a “bumper sticker” rather than a policy. That drew fire from Clinton, who says that, whatever its faults, the “war on terror” has made Americans safer.

These may seem relatively small differences. But relative to what? Compared to what candidates have said on, say, China policy, or on Latin America, the debate on counterterrorism and homeland security is practically white hot.