JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Brian Austin Whitney Blog Wednesday, January 9th, 2008

Hi Folks,

After the interesting results in New Hampshire during the US Presidential Primary there, I thought I'd post a link to a little survey that shows you which candidates support your views on positions the most.

www.votehelp.org

You take the 28 question survey and it will show you who you best match up with from either party. I did it twice with different results on different days, which I suppose suggests even I don't know what I think about issues. = ) (I am on the fence about several of the questions and my thoughts vary by day on the seriousness each issues appeals to me).

So when I just took it today, I actually had 2 parties represented in my result... but unfortunately there was only a 10% difference between 2nd and last place. So it seems that either I have half Republican and half Democrat meaning I am truly Independent... or the candidates all believe pretty much the same things.. I think it's the former.. but I am curious as to what results you guys come up with.

So take the quiz and let me know what you learn. I feel like the second time I took it better reflected who I actually thought going in that I most supported. (My top Rep and top Dem came out 1-2). Unfortunately for me, I am not sure either of them will get the nomination.

So what did you learn?

Brian

I was "In the middle" and average for a lot of the questions. maybe Iraq and Health care kicked me over.

1.) Bill Richardson: 94.83%
2.) Hillary: 92%
3.) Obama: 90.08%
4.) John Edwards: 89.77%
.
.
10.) Ron Paul: 82.64%
11. Rudy Giuliani: 79.28%
12. Fred Thompson: 79.13%

Am I a Democrat, or what?

I found that to be pretty darn informative. My choices showed me that my candidate of choice was #2 on the list by less than 0.3% difference from the #1. The sad thing is I've never heard of the #1 guy. I apparently am also a true independent as my #1 and #2 are a split of democrat and republican. However, there is a massive difference of nearly 30% between my #2 and the #12.

I know the #2 choice and in fact I donated to his campaign. First time I've donated to a candidate. I like his track record that much. Sadly, like you mention Brian, I have the feeling neither candidate will make it to the ballot. Despite that, I will still likely write my choice in as it's my right to vote for the candidate I feel should win.

That's a fantastic website and it should be mandatory for voters to go through something like that to be better informed about their choices.

Just so you know how it came out:

#1. Bill Richardson (89.33%)
#2. Ron Paul (89.09%)
...
#12. Fred Thompson (64.24%)

Even if it's virtuous to be an Independent there still has to be two poles or left and right for virtuous Independence to put their fence between. I already knew that I think like a Republican but wasn't sure which candidate shared most of my views. Here are the two highest for me from each party.

Thompson 96.20% Rep

Richardson 65.88% Dem

Hmmmm... it seems Richardson is coming up a lot. And he's running 4th in the Democratic race with only a shot at becoming someone's VP. I guess this might indicate he'd be a really good choice for Hilary or Barak as their VP.

On the Republican side, it seems to be all over the board. And that reflects the race itself. I think all the turmoil is making for a much better race and much better discussion for the country.. but in the end.. will we get the same old same old, or something truly better than the status quo of the last 20 years?

Brian

Brian

Top 3
Thompson
Huckabee
Romney

Bottom 3
Obama
Clinton
Kucinich

Looks like I'M screwed!

Bill Richardson has announced this evening that he is dropping out of the Presidential race.

My top two (within less than half of a percent) were Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton. What's up with that????

Well my top result was Richardson and my second was Hilary. I find that hilarious. I think we should vote for Hilary just because we can make so many great hilarious jokes with her name. (JUST KIDDING!)

Well.. my number 2 was Bill Richardson.. and now if he's dropped out, that leaves me with 2 Republicans. At least they are 2 of the top 4... Richardson must have been pretty moderate to have appealed to nearly everyone on this discussion on some level. Figures he'd drop out.. ack.

Brian

Hilary would probably have been my number 1 if we had agreed on school vouchers. I am all for them. Our Catholic schools educate our kids for half the amount the public schools out here do. A lot of our students are sponsored and receive food stamps. (I work at an inner city Catholic school.)

Brian,
that little survey came out pretty much as expected. I've said Thompson is my choice for the position and he came in a close 2nd. From the rankings I can see that for the most part these are truly professional politicians and their "views" are merely their STATED views, many of which are subject to change dependent upon their audience of the day. Pandering is not leadership.

We have a civilian as Commander in Chief of the armed forces for good reason. I also believe the executive branch of the federal govt. should headed by a non-politician for similar reasons. The office of the Presidency is no place for pandering. Anyone who sees it as the top rung on their career ladder will inevitably fail to provide leadership.

BTW Brian,
I've lost my "permanent" password. This temporary password will only work a short while I'm sure. How can I recover the password that'll continue to let me?

Thanks for the post,
John

You can change your password anytime you want. And passwords don't expire unless you request a new one. I can't see, access or change passwords on my end.

Brian

I read somewhere that elections are of particular interest to comedians who portray them, as on Saturday Night Live, for example. It can make a tremendous difference to how much screen time they get.

Almost makes me want to vote for Kucinich (also just kidding).

Scott

Well,
I didn't take the test but I "read" Rudy as the most likely nominee of the Republicians and Hillary as the Democrat Nominee.

The Democrat I would like to be the nominee isn't even running and probably won't even be heard from.

I think Rudy has a "Head on his sholders" and is up to the job.
But it is early yet so we will just to wait and see.

Clinton, Edwards, and Obama just look like professional politicians to me and are spouting the same tired old speeches I have heard for the last 50 years.

Hillary thinks it "Takes a Village". Someone should tell her the village has been up and running for 200 years or so.

WOW!!
That was pretty interesting ..

My top 4:
1-Mitt Romney - 95.35%
2-Mike Huckabee - 94%
3-Rudy Giuliani - 91.61%
4-John McCain - 91.55%

My bottom 4:
12-Ron Paul - 62.72%
11-Dennis Kucinich - 66.92% (never heardof him!)
10-Bill Richardson - 74.76
9- John Edwards - 82.43

I learned that I need to be more informed ...
Very cool site ... I am going to follow up on the things I don't know enough about.
Thanks Brian
Joanne

Brian,
thanks for the p-word info. I'll try to change it to something memorable.

John

Some of the questions aren't specific enough, so the application may say you agree with a certain candidate's position on an issue when you don't really. Be sure to check your results carefully.

Yeah, there's no question that the survey, though interesting as a starting point, doesn't really go deep enough and simplifies issues far too much. Like the immigration question.. the laws that exist now don't work, so enforcing them "more" does nothing but status quo.. we need a different approach to control it.. so how do you vote? It's important to me.. and I want to control it.. but the current laws suck.. there's no right answer there.

Brian

1. Ron Paul 89%
2. Bill Richardson 87%
3. Fred Thompson 82%
4. John Edwards 80%

9. Barack Obama 76%
10 Mitt Romney 75%
11.Rudy Guliani 74%
12 Dennis Kucinich 72%

Go figure.

There's a lot of strange results on that quiz.. it's interesting but I question how accurate it can be with the mixed and oddball results.