candidate matcher
Jun. 25th, 2003 03:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cellioSelectSmart (link from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
insomnia) is a matchmaker between your political views and the current set of presidential candidates. Interesting idea; I'd say the implementation is so-so thus far. According to them I have 100% match with the Libertarian candidate (no real surprise there, though in reality it's more like 90%); next on their list was Pat Buchanan at 61%, which is a definite "no" for me. (And let me just throw in a "yuck!" toward a couple other folks in my top 10, shall we? Sharpton?! Jackson?! Give me a break.)
I think the big problem with the test as currently configured is that they don't adequately distinguish between "opposed to X" and "don't care about X". Each question has a high/medium/low setting for how much you care about that category of issues (e.g. taxes), but when a question is a group of positions (check all that apply), the absence of a check doesn't tell you whether the person filling out the survey doesn't care or is opposed to the position. So, for example, I didn't check "Law enforcement agencies should be granted greater discretion to read mail and email, tap phones, and conduct random searches"; I'm betting from some of the rankings I got that the test incorrectly interpreted that as "doesn't care".
The rest of the results:
1. Libertarian Candidate (100%)
2. Buchanan, Patrick J. – Reform/Republican (61%)
3. Bush, George W. - US President (58%)
4. Edwards, Senator John, NC - Democrat (53%)
5. Feingold, Senator Russ, WI - Democrat (52%)
6. Leahy, Patrick Senator, Vermont - Democrat (47%)
7. Sharpton, Reverend Al - Democrat (46%)
8. Dean, Gov. Howard, VT - Democrat (45%)
9. Jackson, Cong. Jesse Jr., IL - Democrat (44%)
10. Feinstein, Senator Dianne, CA - Democrat (44%)
11. Kerry, Senator John, MA - Democrat (43%)
12. Gephardt, Cong. Dick, MO - Democrat (43%)
13. Graham, Senator Bob, FL - Democrat (43%)
14. Lieberman Senator Joe CT - Democrat (43%)
15. Biden, Senator Joe, DE - Democrat (42%)
16. Phillips, Howard - Constitution (42%)
17. Kucinich, Cong. Dennis, OH - Democrat (41%)
18. Kaptur, Cong. Marcy, OH - Democrat (39%)
19. McCain, Senator John, AZ- Republican (38%)
20. Green Party Candidate (38%)
21. Bradley, Former Senator Bill NJ - Democrat (24%)
22. Socialist Candidate (23%)
23. Hagelin, John - Natural Law (20%)
24. Moseley-Braun, Former Senator Carol IL - Democrat (18%)
25. Vilsack, Governor. Tom IA - Democrat (6%)
26. LaRouche, Lyndon H. Jr. - Democrat (-8%)
27. Clark, Retired Army General Wesley K "Wes" Arkansas - Democrat (-8%)
I see that they have the notion of negative ratings, though given that I consider some of the people on this list to be antithesis to what I believe -- and they didn't score negatively -- I'm not sure how to interpret that.
insomnia) is a matchmaker between your political views and the current set of presidential candidates. Interesting idea; I'd say the implementation is so-so thus far. According to them I have 100% match with the Libertarian candidate (no real surprise there, though in reality it's more like 90%); next on their list was Pat Buchanan at 61%, which is a definite "no" for me. (And let me just throw in a "yuck!" toward a couple other folks in my top 10, shall we? Sharpton?! Jackson?! Give me a break.)I think the big problem with the test as currently configured is that they don't adequately distinguish between "opposed to X" and "don't care about X". Each question has a high/medium/low setting for how much you care about that category of issues (e.g. taxes), but when a question is a group of positions (check all that apply), the absence of a check doesn't tell you whether the person filling out the survey doesn't care or is opposed to the position. So, for example, I didn't check "Law enforcement agencies should be granted greater discretion to read mail and email, tap phones, and conduct random searches"; I'm betting from some of the rankings I got that the test incorrectly interpreted that as "doesn't care".
The rest of the results:
1. Libertarian Candidate (100%)
2. Buchanan, Patrick J. – Reform/Republican (61%)
3. Bush, George W. - US President (58%)
4. Edwards, Senator John, NC - Democrat (53%)
5. Feingold, Senator Russ, WI - Democrat (52%)
6. Leahy, Patrick Senator, Vermont - Democrat (47%)
7. Sharpton, Reverend Al - Democrat (46%)
8. Dean, Gov. Howard, VT - Democrat (45%)
9. Jackson, Cong. Jesse Jr., IL - Democrat (44%)
10. Feinstein, Senator Dianne, CA - Democrat (44%)
11. Kerry, Senator John, MA - Democrat (43%)
12. Gephardt, Cong. Dick, MO - Democrat (43%)
13. Graham, Senator Bob, FL - Democrat (43%)
14. Lieberman Senator Joe CT - Democrat (43%)
15. Biden, Senator Joe, DE - Democrat (42%)
16. Phillips, Howard - Constitution (42%)
17. Kucinich, Cong. Dennis, OH - Democrat (41%)
18. Kaptur, Cong. Marcy, OH - Democrat (39%)
19. McCain, Senator John, AZ- Republican (38%)
20. Green Party Candidate (38%)
21. Bradley, Former Senator Bill NJ - Democrat (24%)
22. Socialist Candidate (23%)
23. Hagelin, John - Natural Law (20%)
24. Moseley-Braun, Former Senator Carol IL - Democrat (18%)
25. Vilsack, Governor. Tom IA - Democrat (6%)
26. LaRouche, Lyndon H. Jr. - Democrat (-8%)
27. Clark, Retired Army General Wesley K "Wes" Arkansas - Democrat (-8%)
I see that they have the notion of negative ratings, though given that I consider some of the people on this list to be antithesis to what I believe -- and they didn't score negatively -- I'm not sure how to interpret that.