By Bruce A. Love
A woman, a Mormon, an African American and a veteran of the Vietnam War were all running for president. Thirty years ago, such a statement could only have been the opening line of some offensive joke. But in 2008, this diverse lineup of candidates – each of whom stand a good chance of becoming the next president of the United States - says a lot for just how far America has come. To use a motto from a bygone era, “you’ve come a long way baby.”
It is not always easy to choose which political candidate to support for president. This is especially true when we have a total of 13 candidates from the 2 major parties (as is currently the case). This week I’ve decided to share a resource that may help you discover which candidate would best represent your views.
The way things are going this election season, the Pennsylvania primary may actually make a difference in 2008! Our primary isn’t until April 22, but it is never too early to start examining the candidates to find out which ones most closely match our criteria for the ideal Commander-in-Chief. In 2004, I discovered a website that helped me decide on a candidate. This year, I returned to that website to take the Vote Match Quiz (www.speakout.com/VoteMatch) with the expectation that it would reaffirm my choice for president, and educate me about the issues and views of the other candidates. I was pleased to learn that the candidate I was leaning toward was the one that Vote Match picked for me based on my 20 responses.
The test evaluates responses using a 5-point Likert scale (answers range from “strongly support” to “strongly oppose”). I advise clicking on the links connected to each question to see detailed explanations about what each answer really means. Not every answer indicates how strongly we feel about a particular issue. Even if you read explanations of every question, the whole quiz can be completed in 10-15 minutes. When you are done, simple hit the “Score the Quiz” button to see which candidates are most closely aligned with your views.
The quiz results display pictures of the best to worst candidates (based on your answers) and a numerical score that shows just how well you match up on social and economic issues. The results also include links to each candidate’s answers (demonstrated by word and deed), their biographical sketches, and the candidate’s stances on a variety of related issues. Finally, the quiz determines your overall political philosophy, and plots your views on a 2-axis graph. Your philosophy may be regarded as conservative, liberal, populist, or libertarian (or some combination of these terms).
I’ve encouraged a wide array of friends and colleagues representing the entire political spectrum to take the test. Based on their results and comments, I’ve concluded that the test is completely unbiased and very precise. I know you will find it useful too.
If you use the vote match quiz, please share your experiences and outcomes (anonymously) on my blog at blog.loveconsulting.com. Just click the “comments” link at the end of the posted column. May the best candidate win!
