![[Valid RSS]](/images/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
« Berke, Brock win primaries | Home | Don't forget the sisters »
October 5, 2007
Out here in the weeds
So, I took one of those "candidate calculator" quizzes online, and promptly reaffirmed my status on the fringe of American politics. (So why am I a centrism-seeking Unity08 supporter? Beats me.)
The candidate who comes in first, in terms of matching my responses, is "the peace candidate," U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). Right behind him is the arguably wacky former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel (D-AK).
But third, ahead of any other Democrat, is U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), whose views are said to match mine at around 74%. That's pretty high, considering that a candidate I really like, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), hovers just above the halfway mark. The rest of the Democrats are similar, with the notable exception of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, who comes in last before the list switches to Republicans, being the only Democratic candidate to match my views at less than 50%.
One reassuring(?) fact is that my list isn't that dissimilar from the year 2000, when I started taking these online surveys, and my top two candidates were Ralph Nader (Green, that year) and Harry Browne (Libertarian). (Technically, the quiz I took then was about parties more than about candidates: Browne, specifically, didn't match me as much as Nader did, but the two parties were about equal.) When I take the "world's smallest political quiz" (a libertarian device, to be sure), I am there, too identified as a "Liberal Libertarian" who sits atop the fence dividing those two camps.
This time around, I don't know whether to vote in the Democratic primary, and support Kucinich; or in the GOP primary, and support Paul; or in the Democratic primary, and support Obama, because he stands the best chance of knocking out Clinton, whose presidency (even with the prospect of genial Bill out there trying to mend relations) I cannot support.
What is it that pulls Paul so high in my list, and puts Kucinich and Gravel on top? I have no doubt that it is this useless boondoggle of a war in Iraq, although other issues are the War on Drugs and sensible adult freedoms (such as gay marriage, for whomever wants it).
Interestingly, the "composite candidate," according to the current survey status, is Democratic Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, whose views match the highest number of participants'. I think the highest-scoring "non-wacko" for me was Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM). There's an idea, too.
Politics is Personal | By joe lance | 1:38 PM
