Select a Candidate 2008

magerette

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I was sent this questionnaire from a Midwest TV station's website which attempts to provide a list of candidates in the United States 2008 presidential race that reflects your own individual positions on various issues. It's pretty self explanatory, and short (only 11 questions) but it may surprise you to see your results. It states the questionnaire was developed using a tool from Minnesota Public Radio.

Anyway, for those interested, here's the link:

Select a Candidate 2008
 
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Marriage: Do you favor or oppose a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman?

Is this really an issue in USA?

It seems Chris Dodd is my man. I only disagreed with him on the Iraq issue. And ironically the candidate I got the lowest score with was also the only candidate I agreed with on the Iraq issue. Though that was the only thing we agreed on.

Oh, and by the way Magerette, you didn't mention anywhere that this thread is about the American election and I would just like to add as an European that the whole world doesn't revolve around America, so would you please slip the word "America" or "USA" in your post somewhere. :)
 
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although i scored highest with Kucinich and zero with Fred Thompson, no one agreed with me on iraq, though i'm not sure i know what the right thing to do there is. also apparently Mc Cain is the only one i agree with on the energy policy. Biodiesel is not green people! and corn is not your friend;)
 
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Apparently I'm pretty scattershot since I had 5 people within 3 points at the top across both parties and all candidates were between 10 and 33%.
 
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If I was U.S. American, it would be a tie between donkeys Dennis Kucinich (never heard of the guy before) and Chris Dodd, with a score of 30 each; the first elephant on my list is Ron Paul (No. 6 with a score of 22), the next is Giuliani (No. 9). Elephant Thompson comes in last.
 
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Joe Biden on the left and Duncan Hunter on the right.
 
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I got some guy called Rudy Giuliani as my first pick, with a score of 40 (only disagreed on immigration), with Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton sharing second with 30.

Of course, not actually being an American, most of the issues were unimportant to me, which might've figured in the calculations somehow. :p
 
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Can't be all wrong, I hated both of Squeek's candidates.

Scores between 7 and 68; no surprises.
 
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First I apologize for not indicating that this post concerned the U.S. 2008 presidential election. This was not because I felt the whole world revolves around America, but because I figured most Europeans and non-Americans were well enough informed on world issues to make the connection. So, no insult intended, rather a compliment if anything.:)

Also, I'm glad to see that Europeans are also taking the survey, just so they perhaps can get a little exposure to who's who on what, and also so those in the U.S. can see their positions and hear their thoughts. Thanks for that, all who've contributed so far.

That said, I agree that some of these issues are astonishingly petty to be used as part of an election platform for the highest office in this or any land. A lot of them got a check in the "this is unimportant" box from me.

My end results showed that the people I thought I agreed with scored the lowest(Ron Paul got a 6 and McCain a 13) and I also ended up with Guiliani (the mayor of New York during the 9-11 attack) on the top--a man with whom I thought I shared absolutely nothing politically. And like some of the rest here, the Iraq positions were quite a surprise to me, with NONE of the candidates appearing to favor an instant withdrawal from Iraq--which may be a good thing, but having heard Hillary proclaiming this from the podium I was somewhat surprised to find it isn't her actual policy.

While this is obviously no substitute for real research, it's a quick and dirty way to get a very general feeling for who stands where. I took the thing about a dozen times with different slants out of curiosity, and each time Obama, Clinton and Edwards, the 3 top Democrats or as Jaz so eloquently phrased it, donkeys ;) --were identical in score and policies plus or minus one item they each had a slightly different take on. Whereas the Republicans(elephants) are split in a dozen different directions.

What this means is anybody's guess, but it's interesting to play around with. :)
 
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My end results showed that the people I thought I agreed with scored the lowest(Ron Paul got a 6 and McCain a 13) and I also ended up with Guiliani (the mayor of New York during the 9-11 attack) on the top--a man with whom I thought I shared absolutely nothing politically.

Hee hee, that's what you get for judging them by appearances. ;)

Where I'm from, these types of questionnaires (only much more complex) are set up for every election, parliamentary, municipal, and presidential. There are about three or four of national importance; going through each of them with thought does give a good idea of who stands where. Also helps keep the focus on the issues rather than the personalities, which IMO is a Good Thing.

What I'd really like to see is a followup, though: a similar machine that tracked how each representative voted, and compared that to the profile they ran on. I suspect that pretty clear patterns would emerge, with some talking the talk but not walking the walk, some making compromises left and right but trying to maintain some kind of balance between what they want and what's possible, and some stubbornly voting according to their principles, never mind if it makes any difference or not.

I know which ones I'd support -- and that I'd be willing to give away a fair bit of agreement on policy for consistency in supporting it.
 
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Looks like Mitt (42) is my man, but I've got 5 more Republicans in the upper 30's. Joe Biden was the highest mule at 26. Barack and the Ice Queen are near the bottom of the list with 14's, which is probably pretty accurate.
 
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I had some hits on Mitt as well. It was seeing That Woman come in at # 5 that scared me. :)


Hee hee, that's what you get for judging them by appearances. ;)

Oh definitely guilty as charged on that one. :blush:


What I'd really like to see is a followup, though: a similar machine that tracked how each representative voted, and compared that to the profile they ran on....

There's this site put together by the Washington Post which is almost too comprehensive, but it's useful for tracking purposes if you know what you're looking for.
 
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Ron Paul surprisingly was my top followed by Brownback and Fred Thompson. Guiliani was last on my list.

I was hoping I'd get Alan Keyes but he wasn't an option. ;)
 
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Just my two cents
"Do you favor the concept of privatization of Social Security to any degree?"
Ron Paul's postion is to allow young people to get off Social Security(privatization), and cut oversea military spendings to cover people are or soon be on SS. However, that site wrongly indicated he is against privatization to any degree.

"Immigration: What is your position on immigration in the United States?"
Should have been stated as Illegal Immigration... IMO, The error is intentional as it appears on other publications to stir up all legal immigrants.

"Do you believe the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts should be made permanent?" This is the most tricky question.
A better statement would be "Do you think government has a right to collect income tax?"

Ron Paul is my top choice, no surprise. But I don't like those Republicans trailling so closely behind. Rudy got 35? NOT chance in HELL! Took two minutes to choose my President while took 5 to decide which Mc combo? I will pass on this one.
 
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Hee hee, that's what you get for judging them by appearances. ;)
I found that the questions were too generic to be particularly useful - asking vague questions on hotbutton issues doesn't really tell much.
 
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I got some dude called Duncan Hunter with a score of 28, but he had only one more agree than disagree. There were several at 26 and my lowest was 14. I wouldn't vote for any of them!! :)
 
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Where I'm from, these types of questionnaires (only much more complex) are set up for every election, parliamentary, municipal, and presidential.
It started here a few years ago, too, and I always took the Wahl-o-mat surveys to know who I should vote for.
 
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If I was an U.S citizen my top candiates would be Chriss Dodd and Dennis Kucinich (never heard of this guy btw).
 
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I found that the questions were too generic to be particularly useful - asking vague questions on hotbutton issues doesn't really tell much.

Well, they're a lot better than nothing. I thought the questions were actually pretty good, assuming your attention span only covers a dozen items. They did address a quite a few areas -- the role of the state in the economy, social services, social policy, foreign policy, and so on.

The American polity is very fractured -- there's no deep, wide consensus about even the basic rules of the playing field: how powerful should the central government be, what things fall under its competence, and so on. Musling's point is highly illustrative -- the US is the only country I know of where the very concept of income tax is considered a legitimate topic for debate rather than something that's been settled for generations.
 
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Well, they're a lot better than nothing.
Absolutely - but like many surveys there is a limited scope and as soon as you aren't a straight liberal/conservative you find the cracks in the questions - and just as often the bias of the questioner. (not saying that is the case here)
the US is the only country I know of where the very concept of income tax is considered a legitimate topic for debate rather than something that's been settled for generations.
I think that is a good thing, and probably derives from the way that funding government started here - and the fundamental 'we don't trust government' foundation.
 
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