Monday, October 15, 2007

Candidate Shopping

Minnesota Public Radio has developed an incredibly useful tool for clarifying your own views on the important national issues of the day and offering you a list of how the 18 (yes, 18) current presidential candidates match up with your views and the intensity with which you hold them.

It takes but a few minutes, and it doesn't prescribe a particular candidate. It just gives you a list of the candidates who, in aggregate, most (and least) match up with you. I was skeptical, but the list it generated matched my own personal ranking of the candidates, in the correct order for me, almost EXACTLY.

It's pretty amazing. Check it out.

8 comments:

Moonbeam said...

This is great. I like the way it lists them and shows the issues. Kinda puts the issues and candidates in a nutshell, making it easier to crack one open. I like it. Thank you for passing this on.

One fault I found with the tool, was after my list of choices came up. I clicked on the head shot of my first choice on the list to go to his website to read more about him and I was unable to click my browser back to the original list, therefore I lost all the information and list of my candidates. No worries, I will just do the quiz over and this time keep my fingers in my lap while reading the results.:)

Churlita said...

So many candidates. the thing about living in Iowa, is that you get to meet them all if you want.

dmarks said...

I really had not made a choice yet. McCain comes out on the top of my list, and Hillary at the bottom. I'm really not that pro-McCain yet, nor am I that anti-Hillary (there's a bunch of candidates I would have ranked below her)

The list is a little out of date: Brownback is on it, and he has pulled out already.

Churlita: And that is when you get Obama stealing pies as they cool on window sills and rumors of Romney sighted stealing hubcaps.

Rachelle said...

I tried a tool similar to this and it gave my a candidate from the Green Party that I'd never heard of... I don't think so.

minijonb said...

I did something like this in 2004. It said my perfect candidates were Carol Mosely Braun and Howard Dean... great people, lousy candidates.

David in DC said...

Moonbeam: Glad you liked it. Sorry for the flaws. If Minnesota Public Radio ever asks me, I'll alert them to the problem. It's easily fixable. Causing a link to open a new window is so easy, even I can do it.

Churl: Heaven for a news and politics junkie like me. Hell for more normal folk.

Dmarks: Must not make neanderthal birth control joke about pulling out. Must not make neanderthal birth control joke about pulling out.

Rachelle: Ah well, nothing's perfect. BTW, because "myspace" is in the title of your blog, I cannot access it from work. G-d, I hate over inclusive firewalls.

Minijonb: I'm with you on Dean. But Carol Mosely Braun is a trainwreck.

laura b. said...

Interesting! I was kind of surprised by my results, but probably wouldn't have been if I were able to keep track of the candidates and where they stand more clearly. I can get a little overwhelmed during the Primaries.

Rachelle said...

Aww, that sucks! I'll consider changing the name for you. ;)