Presidential Candidates Through a Green Filter (*)

[davidwparker]

I view the Green platform today as representing the Democratic platform of yesterday. While on the Green website today looking for Green blogs, I found an interesting http://babblemur.com/blog/?p=1067">ranking of all candidates from one Green's perspective and a reference to a comparison tool called http://selectsmart.com/president/2008/comparethem.html">Select Smart 2008 Presidential Candidate.

Check out the tool. Like the Green blogger, I had several surprises myself. Not that Kucinich matched closest to the Green/Democratic base, but my current candidate and my preferred candidate didn't rank as high. I have candidate preferences, but these are not set in stone as we are still way too early.

I thought the tool was interesting and wanted to share it with those who haven't heard of it. Especially, since I had some surprises.

Here's the link to http://www.selectsmart.com/president/2008.html">the questions for you to answer.


(*) This post does not mention Ralph Nader. :-)

on edit: added link to questions for you to answer for comparison with the candidates.

[NMDemDist2]

1. interesting, here are my results

1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Alan Augustson (campaign suspended) (86%) Information link
3. Dennis Kucinich (86%) Information link
4. Barack Obama (78%) Information link
5. Hillary Clinton (75%) Information link
6. Joseph Biden (75%) Information link
7. Wesley Clark (not announced) (73%) Information link
8. Al Gore (not announced) (70%) Information link
9. Mike Gravel (69%) Information link
10. John Edwards (67%) Information link
11. Christopher Dodd (67%) Information link
12. Michael Bloomberg (not announced) (66%) Information link
13. Bill Richardson (64%) Information link
14. Elaine Brown (46%) Information link
15. Ron Paul (44%) Information link
16. Kent McManigal (campaign suspended) (41%) Information link
17. Mike Huckabee (31%) Information link
18. Rudolph Giuliani (26%) Information link
19. Tommy Thompson (22%) Information link
20. John McCain (21%) Information link
21. Mitt Romney (21%) Information link
22. Chuck Hagel (not announced) (20%) Information link
23. Tom Tancredo (12%) Information link
24. Newt Gingrich (not announced) (11%) Information link
25. Duncan Hunter (11%) Information link
26. Jim Gilmore (withdrawn) (11%) Information link
27. Sam Brownback (9%) Information link
28. Fred Thompson (not announced)

[Jillian]

2. How can Al Gore be at number 7???

hmmmm...something doesn't seem right.

[NMDemDist2]

3. I thought it was odd too and Obama is above Hillary on the list

and Edwards (who is the one I'm leaning towards right now) is down at 10

I really don't understand the Obamania myself :shrug: and Hillary will certainly get my support if she's our nominee, she isn't my first choice at this point.

[davidwparker]

16. compare your answers to Edward's postions from his website. I'll be doing

that myself. It seems that we may actually disagree with his positions more than we thought.

For myself, I answered one question with universal health care. Edwards plan is not. In his response, he said his plan would be one where it would get more benefits to people and still have a shot at getting passed. Where he is doing a compromise thing, I answered the question as preferring universal.

[davidwparker]

8. that would be interesting to find out. maybe it's not updated with his

current thoughts? read through the positions for Gore and see if they reflect his current thoughts.

[Yael]

5. My Top 10

No surprise here, generally, but I am not in the Obama camp...

2, 4 and 5 are right in order though.


1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Al Gore (not announced) (67%)
3. Barack Obama (67%)
4. Dennis Kucinich (64%)
5. John Edwards (63%)
6. Wesley Clark (not announced) (63%)
7. Joseph Biden (62%)
8. Hillary Clinton (60%)
9. Christopher Dodd (58%)
10. Ron Paul (53%)

[NMDemDist2]

6. interesting none are above 70% though

at least I had several candidates in the 70% range

:hi:

[Yael]

9. Yeah, I'm a kook

I tend to be more market-oriented so only put "high priority" on a few issues (Healthcare, Iraq). I think that is why all of the candidates are in the 55-65-ish range.

[davidwparker]

10. I had Obama in the 80's and he was higher than Kucinich. I have to look

at Kucinich's website and see where I disagree. Generally, whenever I hear Kucinich, I'm in agreement.

I also have to listen out for Dodd, who my answers show that I agree with more than my current leanings.

Clark was a lot lower down the list than I thought.

An interesting exercise. It will give me some things to think about for tomorrow's debate.

[Yael]

13. I am very surprised that Obama ranked as high on my list as he did

I figured DK would trump them all (didn't realize that Gore was included when I took the test).

I wonder if the age demographic did anything to skew it? That or original opposition to Iraq? That may have weighed heavily as he wasn't in the Senate then.

[davidwparker]

18. I left the age demographic out since all them were aligned with the

Constitution. 35+ is all that it says.

[davidwparker]

19. means you don't totally agree with all of them. My #1 was at 84%.

[bigwillq]

4. Here are my results:

1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Dennis Kucinich (78%) Information link
3. Alan Augustson (campaign suspended) (77%) Information link
4. Barack Obama (76%) Information link
5. Joseph Biden (70%) Information link
6. Hillary Clinton (69%) Information link
7. Wesley Clark (not announced) (68%) Information link
8. Al Gore (not announced) (66%) Information link
9. John Edwards (64%) Information link
10. Christopher Dodd (63%) Information link
11. Mike Gravel (60%) Information link
12. Michael Bloomberg (not announced) (56%) Information link
13. Bill Richardson (55%) Information link
14. Elaine Brown (47%) Information link
15. Ron Paul (41%) Information link
16. Kent McManigal (campaign suspended) (36%) Information link
17. Mike Huckabee (26%) Information link
18. Rudolph Giuliani (25%) Information link
19. Tommy Thompson (19%) Information link
20. John McCain (19%) Information link
21. Chuck Hagel (not announced) (16%) Information link
22. Mitt Romney (15%) Information link
23. Sam Brownback (13%) Information link
24. Newt Gingrich (not announced) (12%) Information link
25. Duncan Hunter (8%) Information link
26. Fred Thompson (not announced) (8%) Information link
27. Jim Gilmore (withdrawn) (7%) Information link
28. Tom Tancredo (7%) Information link

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

12. Kucinich was highest for me, too

Interesting that we have the first few in the same order.


Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Dennis Kucinich (91%)
3. Alan Augustson (campaign suspended) (87%)
4. Barack Obama (83%)
5. Joseph Biden (76%)
6. Christopher Dodd (75%)
7. Wesley Clark (not announced) (75%)
8. Al Gore (not announced) (75%)
9. Hillary Clinton (73%)
10. John Edwards (71%)
11. Bill Richardson (68%)
12. Mike Gravel (65%)
13. Michael Bloomberg (not announced) (65%)
14. Ron Paul (55%)
15. Elaine Brown (47%)
16. Kent McManigal (campaign suspended) (45%)
17. John McCain (29%)
18. Mike Huckabee (27%)
19. Tommy Thompson (26%)
20. Rudolph Giuliani (23%)
21. Chuck Hagel (not announced) (19%)
22. Mitt Romney (18%)
23. Newt Gingrich (not announced) (13%)
24. Fred Thompson (not announced) (12%)
25. Sam Brownback (10%)
26. Tom Tancredo (10%)
27. Duncan Hunter (8%)
28. Jim Gilmore (withdrawn) (8%)

[davidwparker]

15. he was #2 on mine. I think I know the issue where I disagree with him now

and why Obama (#1 for my result) and Kucinich were flipped. Kucinich may be for gay marriage -- I'll have to check.

Marriage is a religious idea. In our system of separation of church and state, marriage shouldn't even come up. Be ye gay or straight, your union recognized by the state is that of civil unions (for those things like tax breaks, joint benefits, etc.)

[Yael]

20. Government has no business regulating morality.

JMO

[nickinSTL]

25. I'm in agreement with you on state involvement in marriage...

however, as long as the government recognizes heterosexual MARRIAGE, then anything less for gays is unacceptable, IMO.

I'd certainly prefer that things change such that the government only recognizes civil unions for all, and leaves marriage to religious organizations, but I don't see that happening. And the idea of state-recognized marriage for straights and "civil unions" for gays is an unacceptable "separate but equal" position. Because of the inequity that is implied in current political discourse by the idea of civil unions for gays, I always answer that I support gay marriage.

[davidwparker]

7. These are mine.

1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Barack Obama (84%) Information link
3. Dennis Kucinich (82%) Information link
4. Christopher Dodd (78%) Information link
5. John Edwards (77%) Information link
6. Alan Augustson (campaign suspended) (75%) Information link
7. Al Gore (not announced) (72%) Information link
8. Joseph Biden (71%) Information link
9. Wesley Clark (not announced) (71%) Information link
10. Hillary Clinton (68%) Information link
11. Mike Gravel (63%) Information link
12. Bill Richardson (61%) Information link
13. Michael Bloomberg (not announced)

Wow, man. I've always commented that I would vote for Obama, but I didn't know that he matches me mostly. One thing about this is that if you take the look, age, race, etc. biases out of the thing and just answer questions without intending a particular outcome, you might be open to more possibilities.

Does anybody know of other tools such as this for comparisons?

[Yael]

17. Not a quiz but Google brought back a cool little tool

http://www.wmur.com/compare-candidates/index.html

[bigwillq]

21. Thanks for posting this link.

:) :hi:

[jmp]

11. Seems that I've got a crush on Obama ...

And didn't know it. ;)


Your Results:

1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Barack Obama (72%)
3. Christopher Dodd (71%)
4. Dennis Kucinich (69%)
5. Al Gore (not announced) (67%)
6. John Edwards (67%)
7. Michael Bloomberg (not announced) (66%)
8. Alan Augustson (campaign suspended) (61%)
9. Ron Paul (61%)
10. Wesley Clark (not announced) (60%)
11. Hillary Clinton (60%) ... my preferred candidate
12. Joseph Biden (60%)

[davidwparker]

14. mine has been Edwards. He was #5 on my list.

[AndyTiedye]

22. There Must Be Something Wrong With The Data They Have for Gore

[nickinSTL]

26. is there?

I'm wondering about the current liberal idolization of Gore. Yes, Gore is absolutely 100% right on the crisis of the environment. But, is he really in line with other liberal positions? He was a fairly conservative Democrat from Tennessee in the Senate, after all. I'm reminded of that when I see clips of him grilling Dee Snyder (usually played on VH1) on indecency in rock music...his views may have changed since then, but that sure isn't the kind of position that I'm all that supportive of.

I'm just speculating here, and don't get me wrong, I think Gore's great, voted for him happily (Lieberman much less so) in '00 and would seriously consider backing him in '08 if he entered the race.

[maximusveritas]

27. Yes, it looks like they're using some of his positions from 2000

obviously he's evolved since then, even if he hasn't publicly voiced changes on those particular issues.

[polichick]

23. Thanks for posting this...

Very interesting!

[nickinSTL]

24. here are my results

Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Dennis Kucinich (94%) Information link
3. Barack Obama (89%) Information link
4. Joseph Biden (85%) Information link
5. Alan Augustson (campaign suspended) (83%) Information link
6. Hillary Clinton (83%) Information link
7. John Edwards (81%) Information link
8. Wesley Clark (not announced) (79%) Information link
9. Christopher Dodd (78%) Information link
10. Michael Bloomberg (not announced) (75%) Information link
11. Al Gore (not announced) (74%) Information link
12. Bill Richardson (71%) Information link
13. Mike Gravel (66%) Information link
14. Elaine Brown (53%) Information link
15. Ron Paul (45%) Information link
16. Kent McManigal (campaign suspended) (43%) Information link
17. Rudolph Giuliani (34%) Information link
18. Mike Huckabee (30%) Information link
19. John McCain (28%) Information link
20. Tommy Thompson (25%) Information link
21. Mitt Romney (24%) Information link
22. Chuck Hagel (not announced) (17%) Information link
23. Tom Tancredo (13%) Information link
24. Newt Gingrich (not announced) (11%) Information link
25. Sam Brownback (11%) Information link
26. Fred Thompson (not announced) (10%) Information link
27. Jim Gilmore (withdrawn) (6%) Information link
28. Duncan Hunter (5%) Information link

[maximusveritas]

28. Obama for me

1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Barack Obama (93%) Information link
3. Dennis Kucinich (86%) Information link
4. Christopher Dodd (84%) Information link
5. John Edwards (82%) Information link
6. Alan Augustson (campaign suspended) (76%) Information link
7. Al Gore (not announced) (75%) Information link
8. Wesley Clark (not announced) (74%) Information link
9. Hillary Clinton (73%) Information link
10. Joseph Biden (71%) Information link

Not really surprised. This is about the ranking I had them in based on my own study of their positions and voting records. The only anomoly is Gore, but as I commented above, that's because they're using some of his positions from 2000, which isn't accurate anymore.

[LWolf]

29. I got a whole page of this:

Warning: mysql_connect(): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2) in /usr/www/users/ssmart/PRO/sel.html on line 38

Warning: mysql_select_db(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL-Link resource in /usr/www/users/ssmart/PRO/sel.html on line 40

Warning: mysql_db_query(): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2) in /usr/www/users/ssmart/PRO/sel.html on line 51

Warning: mysql_db_query(): A link to the server could not be established in /usr/www/users/ssmart/PRO/sel.html on line 51

Warning: mysql_fetch_array(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /usr/www/users/ssmart/PRO/sel.html on line 52

:shrug:

I think I'm a pretty good match with my preferred candidate, but I'm willing to check the selector to verify that. Unfortunately, the selector doesn't recognize me, lol.

[Lucinda]

30. Interesting! I wouldnt have expected this order...

1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Barack Obama (86%) Information link
3. Dennis Kucinich (84%) Information link
4. Christopher Dodd (80%) Information link
5. Michael Bloomberg (not announced) (76%) Information link
6. John Edwards (74%) Information link
7. Hillary Clinton (73%) Information link
8. Joseph Biden (73%) Information link
9. Al Gore (not announced) (71%) Information link
10. Wesley Clark (not announced) (70%) Information link
11. Alan Augustson (campaign suspended) (63%) Information link
12. Bill Richardson (62%) Information link
13. Mike Gravel (53%) Information link
14. Ron Paul (52%) Information link
15. John McCain (41%) Information link
16. Rudolph Giuliani (38%) Information link
17. Kent McManigal (campaign suspended) (33%) Information link
18. Tommy Thompson (33%) Information link
19. Mike Huckabee (32%) Information link
20. Elaine Brown (32%) Information link
21. Chuck Hagel (not announced) (31%) Information link
22. Mitt Romney (24%) Information link
23. Newt Gingrich (not announced) (24%) Information link
24. Sam Brownback (23%) Information link
25. Fred Thompson (not announced) (22%) Information link
26. Tom Tancredo (21%) Information link
27. Duncan Hunter (15%) Information link
28. Jim Gilmore (withdrawn) (12%) Information link