Video gamers, the Democratic presidential candidates have a simple message for you: "We are not afraid to regulate the sex and violence right out of your consoles. Don't make us do it."

With the new year still shiny and filled with that fresh-from-the-dealership scent, it's a perfect time to kick back, pop that Orange Box disc into the drive, and let off a little steam with Gordon Freeman's crowbar. But it's also worth taking ten minutes to ponder what gaming might look like after 2008's US presidential election (hint: that crowbar could be under increased scrutiny).

To do that, let's turn to Common Sense Media, which sent questionnaires last autumn to the leading candidates of both parties. Now that Hillary Clinton's campaign has responded, the Democratic slate is well-represented (Mitt Romney was the only Republican to respond). The questions covered several media issues, but the most important one for our purposes was the question about violent video games. Would the POTUS contenders use legislation to "keep violent video games out of kids' hands"?

The Democrats (except for Clinton) all paid lip service to the idea of parental responsibility and industry self-regulation as the first, best hope for solving the problem. "The ESRB is a good example of industry responsibility," said John Edwards. Barack Obama said that there's "a golden opportunity for the industry to do this on their own" and that he wants to "improve the voluntary ratings system we currently have." Bill Richardson stressed parental involvement and (somewhat oddly) pledged to give all federal employees eight hours of paid one-on-one time with their kids.

But none of this precludes legislation. Consider the responses:

Obama: "But if the industry fails to act, then my administration would."

"But if the industry fails to act, then my administration would." Richardson: "I would consider this legislation."

"I would consider this legislation." Edwards: "If the industry does not continue to make progress in keeping video games with intense violent and adult content away from children, we will need to consider further steps."

"If the industry does not continue to make progress in keeping video games with intense violent and adult content away from children, we will need to consider further steps." Clinton: [After long discussion of her support for the Family Entertainment Protection Act] "When I am president, I will work to protect children from inappropriate video game content."

Since Romney was the only Republican to weigh in, it's hard to sum up general Republican attitudes. It's possible to sum up Romney's, though: Get Tough on Filth. "I want to restore values so children are protected from a societal cesspool of filth, pornography, violence, sex, and perversion," he said. "I've proposed that we enforce our obscenity laws again and that we get serious against those retailers that sell adult video games that are filled with violence and that we go after those retailers."

Some of this is obviously election-year saber-rattling, but the ESRB can't afford too many more GTA: San Andreas sex debacles or Manhunt 2 ultraviolence-restoring-hacks. After a couple more such incidents, any of the current candidates sounds willing to sign legislation that would take the ratings and compliance out of the industry's hands and plop it down somewhere within the FTC.

Whether or not something like that would ever survive a constitutional challenge is up for debate, but we've explained our position on this before, and we don't think it's likely.