The 2008 presidential elections have brought together several candidates from both sides of the aisle, all fighting for the position of leading the free world. But how many of those candidates actually believe in, and embrace, small government? You will find out.

Below, we pick the top 7 candidates in the field and assess their fitness for the presidency - keeping small government as a priority. Each candidate is given a letter grade, A being a good small government candidate, and an F being the worst.

Please note: Below is only a snippet of what each candidate believes. We strongly encourage you to dive deeper into each of these candidates to get a more complete feel for where the candidate stands on the issues that are most important to you.

Ron Paul Ron Paul is a Texas Representative and a Libertarian-leaning candidate for president of the United States. Paul served as a flight surgeon in the military and later practiced medicine as an OB/GYN in Texas. GRADE: A- Explanation: Ron Paul supports an elimination of the IRS and a simple tax structure for the American people. He believes that home schooling is a great alternative to our nation's public education system and supports providing tax credits to help parents fund other choices in their child's education. He promises to veto any legislation that establishes nationwide standards and testing thresholds for home schooled students. Paul supports an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, along with the U.S.'s presence in organizations like the U.N. and any other organization that "infringe upon the freedom and independence of the United States of America." As an OB/GYN, Paul is strongly pro-life. He supports immediately securing the borders and deporting immigrants who overstay their Visas. He opposes legislation like the Patriot Act and warrantless wire-tapping. Web site: RonPaul2008.com

Mitt Romney Former Massachusetts Governor, a Mormon, elected in 2002 and previously served as the CEO of Bain & Company, a management consulting firm. GRADE: B Explanation: Supports overturning Roe, but record and statements on abortion are largely mixed. As Governor, he vetoed a stem cell research bill and supported the legalization of RU-486. Romney supports a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman and supports a full ban on gay marriage. Supported GPS tracking on criminals convicted of preying on children and a "One Strike, You're Out" policy. He supports abstinence education and "English immersion" policies and supported in 2002 the elimination of the federal Department of Education. Romney believes the McCain-Feingold law prevents free speech and supports a balanced budget amendment and the line-item veto. Web site: MittRomney.com

Fred Thompson Fred Thompson, once a Senator from Tennessee for 8 years, comes to this year's campaign season from Hollywood as an actor in movies like The Hunt for Red October, and the television program Law & Order. GRADE: B- Explanation: Although Thompson is billed as the "real" conservative, his voting record seems to question that assumption. Thompson voted to continue funding to the National Endowment of the Arts, supports the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform concept and received fairly lackluster grades on immigration from Americans for Better Immigration. To his credit, Thompson does support abolishing the IRS, supports school vouchers and opposes government involvement in health care. In 1999, supported further military base closures, but also voted to increase military pay by 4.8%. Supports allowing more immigrants into the nation in support of farm work and wants a limit on welfare for immigrants. Voted to kill an increase in the minimum wage. Voted for a Social Security Lockbox and for an individual's ability to deduct Social Security payments on income taxes; supports personal retirement accounts. Web site: Fred08.com

Rudy Giuliani Rudy Giuliani is known as "America's Mayor" after leading the city of New York through disaster and back to some sense of regularity after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. GRADE: C+ Explanation: Giuliani cut taxes in the city of New York 23 times and does not support letting Bush's tax cuts expire. Supports eliminating the death tax and generally believes the FairTax is a step in the right direction (although he believes the FairTax is too complex to achieve right now). Giuliani believes abortion should be up to the woman and donated to Planned Parenthood. Does not support same-sex marriage (but supports domestic partnerships), does not support free speech on publicly-funded art. He also supports expanding drug enforcement into foreign policy as an integral element. Web site: JoinRudy2008.com

Hillary Clinton Former first lady and current New York Senator Hillary Clinton, married to former president Bill Clinton. She authored the failed health care proposal later known as "Hillary Care". GRADE: D Explanation: Clinton is staunchly pro-choice and supports a lift on the ban on stem cell research. Supported spending $100 million on an initiative to reduce teen pregnancy, co-sponsored a spending bill totaling $502 billion and voted no on $40 billion in reduced federal spending. She supports civil unions and wants states to decide gay marriage and supports domestic partnership benefits. Voted to increase funding for the COPS program to $1.15 billion and supports special drug courts to deal with drug related crimes. Supports government-funded "universal" kindergarten and agrees with transferring tax cuts for Americans over to student aid programs. Clinton does not support school vouchers. Clinton supports funding for the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and wants "green-collar" job training. She supports a withdrawal from Iraq and backtracks on her vote to authorize military action in Iraq. Generally supports gun control and strict licensing. Web site: HillaryClinton.com

Barack Obama Senator from Illinois and the fifth black person to serve in Congress in U.S. history, and the only black currently serving in the Senate. Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961. GRADE: D Explanation: Obama is pro-choice, supports stem cell funding and, like Hillary Clinton, voted to spend $100 million to reduce teen pregnancy. Also like Clinton, Obama voted against a bill that would have reduced federal spending by $40 billion. Supports the Equal Pay Act to regulate and legislate pay for women, supports civil unions, but opposes gay marriage. Voted against tax breaks for companies that export jobs overseas and voted for the $1.15 billion in increased spending for the COPS program. Supports increasing the Pell Grant, $52 million for learning centers and $5 billion in grants to local education agencies. Supports strengthening NATO and spending $50 billion yearly in nations with a risk of collapse. Supports "Google for Government" to help record and reveal government spending and voted to establish the Senate Office of Public Integrity. Supports gun control and wants a ban on semi-automatics and voted against a bill that would have prevented lawsuits against gun manufacturers. Supports "condom distribution" and believes that health care is a right. Web site: BarackObama.com

John Edwards Edwards is a former one-term Senator from North Carolina, a trial lawyer primarily in medical malpractice cases and ran unsuccessfully for president with John Kerry in 2004. GRADE: D- Explanation: Edwards supports strengthening Social Security, claiming we have a "social contract" with the American people not to raise the retirement age; opposes using Social Security to reduce national debt. Edwards is pro-choice and supports expanding stem cell research. Supports a "home rescue fund" for those worried about losing homes and supports rolling Bush's tax cuts back to fund education, health care and other social programs. Edwards does not support the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and wants gays to serve openly in the military. Like Clinton and Obama, supports $1.15 billion in COPS spending and supports sponsoring drug counseling for drug convicts. Supports public schools teaching about same-sex parents and wants a "College for Everyone" program with tuitions paid by the federal government. Opposes school choice by the use of vouchers, opposes educational savings accounts and supports devoting more resources to failing schools. Supports federal restrictions on the availability of violent films to minors. Supports heavy government involvement in health care and will mandate everyone get covered by health insurance; strongly supports universal health coverage with a raise in taxes. Edwards also supports a dramatic increase in the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2012. Web site: JohnEdwards.com