There are a few web sites that I absolutely, passionately love.
But there’s one site that becomes very important at least every 4 years, and that’s:
From a letter they wrote to the Independent, the folks at OnTheIssues say their goal is "to rejuvenate democracy". OnTheIssues.org/Speakout.com essentially helps clarify a person’s political position by listing many if not most of today’s prevailing political issues and possible stances one might have on each. Y’know – the stuff a lot of politicians try to avoid… as you’ll see by the "no stance" entries on many of the candidates.
It’s run by an independent body that purports to be non-partisan. (I say purports because it’s primary staff is made up of folks that appear to have ties to the Democratic party with relationships to Harvard & Columbia both of which are fairly well known for their demonstrative political leanings)
In a nutshell, what they do on the site is:
- CANDIDATES
They list out all the candidates and based on statements they’ve made in the past, (with quotations and references) establish what their general opinion is. - ISSUES
They list out the issues and help clarify what each issue is about and what potential stances you may take on them. It subdivides peoples opinions into 4 classes: Strongly agree, Agree, Oppose, and Strongly oppose, and defines what each stance might be in English for each issue. - QUIZ!
They have a quiz online that will ask you your opinion on each issue and actually match you with the candidate that most closely meets your opinions. Note: There’s no prioritization possible with the issues so it weighs each issue equally but that being said, it’s kind of a neat feature nonetheless – especially for people that really don’t have a clear opinion.
I don’t think Americans even think of half of the stuff on this site before they go to the polls and that’s why I think it’s so interesting. I think most voters have 3 or 4 issues that they harp on and vote that way without considering the bigger picture.
This is probably the best way to at least get off to a good start in considering that bigger picture.
What did I score? (He asks as he laughs at the web page results listing candidates with political leanings close to his) Well, if I know you personally, ping me and I’ll send you the link to my results but like I said, I think this is a at least a good start – even if I don’t think my first couple of candidate results were that accurate. What I wish you could do in the quiz is weight certain topics more than others to prioritize issues that are really important to you over those that aren’t.
kurtsh
Kurt's Thoughts 