For all those interested in politics, five potential U.S. presidents gave their opinions on legislation limiting the sale of video games in response to a Common Sense Media questionnaire. Preeminent Democrats Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson as well as Republican candidate Mitt Romney answered the questionnaire.

Clinton has a history with the issue, having introduced the failed Family Entertainment Protection Act two years ago, which would have banned games rated M by the ESRB from sale to minors. “I felt that video game content was getting increasingly violent and sexually explicit, yet young people were able to purchase these games with relative ease while their parents were struggling to keep up with being informed about the content,” said Clinton in her response, adding that she would continue working to limit game sales if elected.

Edwards lauded the ESRB and manufacturers implementation of content locks in consoles, but suggested that may not be enough. “If the industry does not continue to make progress in keeping video games with intense violence and adult content away from children, we will need to consider further steps to ensure that parents’ decisions about their children’s exposure to these games are not being undermined by retailers, advertisers and manufacturers,” he said.

Obama laid responsibility on parents to inform themselves and on the industry to make information available to parents. “Broadcasters and video game producers should take it upon themselves to improve this system to include easier to find and easier to understand descriptions of exactly what kind of content is included,” he said. “But if the industry fails to act, then my administration would.”

Richardson also stressed parental rather than federal involvement and brought in the context of education. If elected, he said he plans to provide federal workers with eight hours annually of paid time to spend with their children.

Romney said he wants to target retailers who sell games with mature content to minors, a position similar to Clintons. “I want to restore values so children are protected from a societal cesspool of filth, pornography, violence, sex, and perversion,” said Romney.

Happy holidays, and don’t forget to vote next year.