Today in New Hampshire...
We all get cheesy forwards from our mothers. My mother tends towards provocative youtube videos and "adorable" kittens. However, close to Christmas she forwarded me this. I finally got around to taking the quiz yesterday. Essentially, the project breaks down each candidate according to their stated positions on particular issues. Inevitably, this is an art and not a science, but the tool is blunt and so seems to generally articulate the positions correctly. I won't reveal my best candidate, but I will say that this was a refreshing change from everything I have been reading the last few days.In the midst of this war of personality (see, for example, NYT's Matt Bai blog post today criticizing the inevitable Kennedy comparisons that Democrats seem unable to escape), I hope the issues will stay front an center.
This is exactly the sort of thing that media web sites could do--use the interactivity of the internet to actually inform voters. And they could do it with very large samples. It would be incredibly useful.
Unfortunately, the coverage of the last two primaries has defeated even my own (abysmally low) expectations. I don't particularly care for Edwards, for example, nor do I care for Ron Paul. Both of them, however, have gotten the Gore treatment from media outlets--Paul from the GOP house organ.
January 9, 2008 11:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
That is certainly an interesting test. There is also a great site for evaluating candidates according to where they get their money. Money is an excellent guage of character. You can look at a person's checkbook and see what they value most. They put their money in what they value. When you see where they get their money, it can also say alot about them. When looking at candidates, you can get a sense of what their loyalties are going to be. In the last election, you will find that George Bush received about $600,000 from MBNA, then he promptly railroaded the bankrupcty bill through congress as the very first act in his second term. MBNA was by far his largest contributor.
This time, notice who has given Hillary Clinton over $300,000 so far, and we aren't even through the primaries yet. Compare her list of large contributors with George Bush's contributors, and then try to tell me that she is a candidate for changing things in Washington. Citibank, which is up there with MBNA in abusing consumers with credit card agreements. I'd be cautious about her if you didn't like the latest changes to the bankruptcy law. We also need to watch out for Chris Dodd, and John McCain. They also received quite a sum from the Citigroup, though about half as much as Hillary.
Follow the money. It can be very revealing.
Jim Anderson
The Truth About Credit
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Ministry WebsiteJanuary 9, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink