Who Has Your Vote?
February 14th, 2007 | by Scott |I know it’s way early in the game and that with our nominating process such as it is that the initial question is “who can be nominated” not “who can be elected.” But I want to commit some time on Wednesday in the coming months to breaking down the field. Next week we will look specifically at the GOP field.
But to begin I thought I would get a gauge on how my views align with the candidates. The folks at select smart have a survey that aligns your views with that of the candidates. Get it here.
It looks like I’m on the Obama bandwagon (sorry, dad). Brownback is pulling up the rear. Which is fitting, because he scares me. What about you?
Percent Rank Item
(100%) 1: Sen. Barack Obama (D)
(88%) 2: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D)
(86%) 3: Sen. John Kerry (D)
(83%) 4: Retired Gen. Wesley Clark (D)
(80%) 5: Ex-VP Al Gore (D)
(80%) 6: Gov. Bill Richardson (D)
(80%) 7: Sen. Christopher Dodd (D)
(74%) 8: Ex-Sen. John Edwards (D)
(73%) 9: Gov. Tom Vilsack (D)
(70%) 10: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D)
(59%) 11: Sen. Joseph Biden (D)
(56%) 12: Rep. Ron Paul (R)
(46%) 13: Gov. Mike Huckabee (R)
(45%) 14: Gov. Mitt Romney (R)
(38%) 15: Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R)
(36%) 16: Gov. George Pataki (R)
(36%) 17: Sec. Condoleezza Rice (R)
(36%) 18: Sen. John McCain (R)
(35%) 19: Ex-Rep. Newt Gingrich (R)
(29%) 20: Sen. Chuck Hagel (R)
(27%) 21: Sen. George Allen (R)
(24%) 22: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R)
(24%) 23: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R)
(16%) 24: Sen. Sam Brownback (R)
46 Responses to “Who Has Your Vote?”
By Scott on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Man, I’m going to hear about this.
By KS on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Surprise: I was almost exactly opposite of you. Obama was at the bottom.
I did like how the questions were phrased with a lean to getting someone to vote for the liberal side.
By Scott on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
I didn’t see the slant to the questions. But that’s just me.
But who was at the top?
By KS on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Sam Brownback, Mcain was close to the top.
By GKB on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Jesus Christ gets my vote.
I’m with David Lipscomb on this one. Even the best politician is still a politician, which ranks slightly above dog doo when it comes to “things I have a favorable opinion about.”
By Greg on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
This thing is messed up. I answered pro-life but it still gave me a 100% Obama score, and he “strongly disagrees” with pro-life. I also answered neither on a couple of questions but it still gave me a 100% on Obama.
Maybe it only weighs items where you don’t answer ‘neither’.
By Jeff on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Interesting. Here’s my abbreviated list (who is Ron Paul?):
(100%) 1: Rep. Ron Paul (R) Information
(87%) 2: Gov. George Pataki (R) Information
(82%) 3: Sen. Barack Obama (D) Information
(73%) 6: Gov. Mitt Romney (R) Information
(71%) 10: Sen. Sam Brownback (R) Information
(67%) 11: Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) Information
(63%) 15: Sen. John McCain (R) Information
(59%) 19: Gov. Bill Richardson (D) Information
(59%) 20: Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) Information
(57%) 21: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) Information
(55%) 22: Sec. Condoleezza Rice (R) Information
(53%) 23: Ex-Sen. John Edwards (D) Information
By Doug Freeman on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Scott, I have to tell you Obama, Clinton and Dodd were my bottom three.
By greg on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
top 10
(100%) 1: Sen. Barack Obama (D)
(89%) 2: Retired Gen. Wesley Clark (D)
(82%) 3: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D)
(79%) 4: Sen. John Kerry (D)
(75%) 5: Ex-VP Al Gore (D)
(75%) 6: Sen. Christopher Dodd (D)
(66%) 7: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D)
(64%) 8: Gov. Tom Vilsack (D)
(63%) 9: Sen. Joseph Biden (D)
(61%) 10: Ex-Sen. John Edwards (D)
bottom 5
(16%) 20: Sen. George Allen (R)
(8%) 21: Sen. John McCain (R)
(8%) 22: Sen. Sam Brownback (R)
(5%) 23: Sen. Chuck Hagel (R)
(4%) 24: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R)
By Scott on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
sigh, if only Jesus was running.
Greg, I was pro-life too and it gave me the 100% Obama. Maybe it had to do with the priority I gave it.
Jeff, I find your breakdown interesting. I’d love to see your answers. It seems to be a mix of the two parties. And Paul is a libertarian.
By Scott on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Dad, I’m not surprised at all.
Greg, we are pretty close in ideology it appears.
By Jonathan on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
From the web site:
It is a relative scale. 100 % doesn’t mean you agree with that candidate on 100 % of the issues. It just means he/she is the one you agree with most.
By jasonk on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
So, would it be safe to say that you believe that the lives of the 3,000 or so brave soldiers who have died bringing democracy to the middle east were “wasted?”
So says Barack Hussein Obama.
I haven’t taken the test yet, but a couple of elections ago there was a test like this, and as it turns out, it was sponsored by one of the candidates, so no matter how you responded, it still said that you were 100% behind the candidate sponsoring the site. I don’t know if that caused them any grief ultimately, but that seems pretty low down to me.
I’m a little like Karl Rove–this is all a little too much, too soon.
By Scott on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Do we really want to pursue that thread?
By Larry Freeman on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Dad, The same 3 were in my top 7
By Steve Duer on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
More conservative results than I expected. I also didn’t like the questions because I found myself in the middle of several issues but I am closer to the conservative side than the liberal. Therefore, my results were more conservative than I feel is accurate. My favorite candidates were in the middle of my list.
By Doug Freeman on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Larry, you didn’t answer the questions right. I ended up with Newt on top.
By Matt on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Hmmm…Scott, you and I seem to be on about the same page.
Top 10
(100%)1: Sen. Barack Obama (D)
(85%) 2: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D)
(81%) 3: Retired Gen. Wesley Clark (D)
(79%) 4: Sen. John Kerry (D)
(76%) 5: Sen. Christopher Dodd (D)
(71%) 6: Ex-VP Al Gore (D)
(67%) 7: Ex-Sen. John Edwards (D)
(67%) 8: Gov. Bill Richardson (D)
(67%) 9: Gov. Tom Vilsack (D)
(66%) 10: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D)
By Travis on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Great minds…
(100%) 1: Sen. Barack Obama (D)
(87%) 2: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D)
(82%) 3: Sen. John Kerry (D)
(76%) 4: Sen. Christopher Dodd (D)
(76%) 5: Ex-VP Al Gore (D)
(76%) 6: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D)
(75%) 7: Retired Gen. Wesley Clark (D)
(73%) 8: Sen. Joseph Biden (D)
(72%) 9: Gov. Bill Richardson (D)
(68%) 10: Gov. Tom Vilsack (D)
By Doug Freeman on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
This may be a new campaign slogan, O Gimmie Summa Osuma Obuma.
By Jason Bybee on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
Looks like I’m a Wesley Clark man. Who knew?
By Jonathan on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
jasonk, I’ll take your bait:
1 - As I assume you are aware, Obama has apologized for using the term wasted.
2 - Do I think what we have accomplished in Iraq (removal of a cruel, murderous dictator; killing of tens to hundreds of thousand of Iraqi civilians; transformation of a fairly modern, secular country into a land of chaos and anarchy; creation of a highly effective terrorist recruiting tool) is worth the lives we have lost, the money we have spent, and the credibility we have lost we the rest or the world? No, I emphatically DO NOT. Frankly, political expediencies and correctness aside, I do think many lives have been wasted in that sense.
Neil Steinberg in the Chicago Sun-Times puts it this way (link):
By Jonathan on Feb 14, 2007 | Reply
(100%)1: Sen. Barack Obama (D)
(87%) 2: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D)
(85%) 3: Ex-VP Al Gore (D)
(83%) 4: Sen. John Kerry (D)
(80%) 5: Retired Gen. Wesley Clark (D)
(73%) 6: Gov. Bill Richardson (D)
(73%) 7: Sen. Christopher Dodd (D)
(70%) 8: Gov. Tom Vilsack (D)
(70%) 9: Rep. Ron Paul (R)
(66%) 10: Sen. Joseph Biden (D)
(65%) 11: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D)
(64%) 12: Ex-Sen. John Edwards (D)
(50%) 13: Gov. Mike Huckabee (R)
(47%) 14: Ex-Rep. Newt Gingrich (R)
(46%) 15: Gov. George Pataki (R)
(42%) 16: Gov. Mitt Romney (R)
(41%) 17: Sec. Condoleezza Rice (R)
(38%) 18: Sen. John McCain (R)
(35%) 19: Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R)
(35%) 20: Sen. Chuck Hagel (R)
(30%) 21: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R)
(30%) 22: Sen. Sam Brownback (R)
(28%) 23: Sen. George Allen (R)
(23%) 24: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R)
By jasonk on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
Jonathan, I mean no disrespect to you personally. I love your blog, and I have a great deal of respect for you. I will ask you this in response to your comment on my blog, and in response to your post on the subject, later.
If what he said is right, then why did he apologize?
By Jonathan on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
I think he apologized because the way he said it would be offensive to many and it wasn’t his intention to gratuitously offend but rather to express his opinion that what we have accomplished was not worth the lives and other resources that it has cost us.
By Phil Wilson on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
(100%) 1: Sen. Barack Obama (D)
(78%) 2: Sen. Christopher Dodd (D)
(76%) 3: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D)
(76%) 4: Retired Gen. Wesley Clark (D)
(76%) 5: Sen. John Kerry (D)
(74%) 6: Gov. Tom Vilsack (D)
(68%) 7: Ex-VP Al Gore (D)
(68%) 8: Gov. Bill Richardson (D)
(68%) 9: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D)
(63%) 10: Ex-Sen. John Edwards (D)
(61%) 11: Rep. Ron Paul (R)
(59%) 12: Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R)
(59%) 13: Gov. Mike Huckabee (R)
(59%) 14: Gov. Mitt Romney (R)
(53%) 15: Sen. Joseph Biden (D)
(51%) 16: Gov. George Pataki (R)
(46%) 17: Ex-Rep. Newt Gingrich (R)
(46%) 18: Sen. Chuck Hagel (R)
(44%) 19: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R)
(44%) 20: Sec. Condoleezza Rice (R)
(40%) 21: Sen. John McCain (R)
(38%) 22: Sen. George Allen (R)
(36%) 23: Sen. Sam Brownback (R)
(27%) 24: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R)
Yikes. When did this happen?
By Scott on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
Welcome to the dark side, Phil.
Jason, I can’t really add anything to what Jonathan has said, although I think we have to move past the point where criticism and dissent of this boondoggle of a war is seen as “giving aid to the enemies” or “not supportive of the troops” or whatever partisan spin you want to put on things.
There are many of us who feel that the lives of these men could have been better spent. Not to mention the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians. But I guess that’s why I am a dove.
By jasonk on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
You want to know why I think he apologized? Because his advisors told him that his presidential aspirations were about to disappear like a vapor, and if he didn’t correct himself, he would find himself a footnote in history.
But I wonder, does he really believe this, and is his apology just giving people what they want to hear? Jesus said that when the heart gets so full, it comes out of the mouth. Could it be that Obama believes so strongly that bringing democracy to a place that has for years only known dictatorship is a waste?
Maybe you think this is an ad hominem argument, and maybe it is, but believe me, America will take it into consideration.
1. His name is Barack Hussein Obama
2. He was educated in a Muslim school as a child, he listed himself as a Muslim when he enrolled in high school in England. His dad was a Muslim, and in Islam, once a Muslim, always a Muslim. The Islamic world considers him to be one of them.
3. He believes that it is a waste of human life to bring democracy to the world, and believes it so strongly in his heart, that te abundance of that belief was manifested in his own words.
Add the three together, and you have one disappointed presidential candidate.
By Politics and Culture on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
Dennis Kucinich is number 2 on your list??? You should be very concerned about that. That guy is a nut!
The survey is messed up. It said my top choice was Brownback. I’m for Condi Rice (but she probably won’t run). Of the ones running, I’m for Giuliani (even though he’s pro abortion and in favor of gun control). He’s the only real leader on the list.
By jasonk on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
Scott, I never said that a dissenting opinion of the war meant that you are giving aid and comfort the enemy. Never once, because I do not believe that.
I am merely stating that Obama is not what you perceive him to be. When you say, “welcome to the dark side,” there may be a lot more to it than a humorous comment. Unless they invent a device that keeps people from saying what they really believe, Obama will continue to reveal what is really inside of him.
Sen. Biden made a comment last month that revealed what is really in his heart. That black people are not articulate, not clean cut, and not capable of reasonable thought. Does he REALLY believe that? Not so much that he would admit it openly, but there is likely some seed of discontent in there somewhere. And his little comment will be broadcast to the world, if Hillary and Obama see him creeping closer in the polls.
Take a close look at this website you have directed people to. Who is behind it? And why do so many people who go there find that they are 100% behind Obama? I wonder.
By Scott on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
That’s funny. I mentioned to my wife last night that I was surprised that nobody had given me grief about Kucinich.
Brownback scared the mess out of me.
By Scott on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
Jason, I know you didn’t say that. But many have.
I think you are seeing many people gravitate to Obama for a myriad of reasons. He has the ear of those discontent. And that’s not a bad thing. It leads us into much deeper discussions of the political climate. Brian Mclaren wrote a great open letter to Obama. Read it here:
http://www.beliefnet.com/blogs/godspolitics/2007/02/brian-mclaren-advice-for-barack-obama.html
By Jonathan on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
jasonk,
I know you’ll take this in a positive way and know that I have a great deal of respect for you and your opinions as well (and one of these days we’re going to have to go cycling!), but here is what I think:
No matter how many times you call what we have done in Iraq “bringing democracy to the world”, it won’t make me feel any better about it when the reality Iraq is so chaotic, anarchic, and bloody. No matter how pretty the bow you put on the package, if I sniff it and it smells like dung…that’s what I’ve got to think it is. It’s not necessarily the case that the ends justify the means. Even if a vital, healthy democracy eventually takes root in Iraq however many years from now, it doesn’t mean the way we gone about it was the best or worth it. When/if that does happen, it will be easier to swallow this pill in hindsight. But for what I’ve seen so far, if this is what you call bringing democracy to the rest of the world, I think we should keep it to ourself. Cue standard rant about vitality of a democracy the grows from within a country versus one that is imposed from the outside…
By len on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
Scott,
I enjoyed the letter from McLaren. I don’t yet know what I think of him, but he does cause me to think. I would have felt much better about his letter if he had put in one phrase about the harm done to the unborn in this country. I’m still looking for that prophet on the left who will boldly challenge the status quo on abortion.
I scored 100% on Ron Paul. (I’m with Jeff, who is he?) My highest democrat was Obama, at 73%.
By jasonk on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
Scott and Jonathan, as always I really do appreciate the tenor of this site. I apologize that sometimes I get worked up, and it comes out in my posts. But I absolutely have high respect for you both, even though we disagree on matters of politics.
Scott, I have read the letter from McLaren. I don’t really know what to think about it.
Jonathan, I am just in the process of taking off the winter weight gain, in preparation for cycling season. Monday is a market holiday, and the high temp is going to be 60, so you can bet that I will try to get a jump start on the season that day. Either way, I will ride with you any time.
I wish that, for one week or so, we could step back in time and listen to the arguments pro and con regarding our past attempts to bring democracy to the world. In Germany and Japan, as we spent tax dollars and human lives (yes, Americans still died in the years after WWII), were there those who disapproved of our presence in the region? In the 19th century, should the USA have just allowed the southern states to form their own nation, rather than “waste” the lives of hundreds of thousands of young Americans? Was the American Revolution worth the lives it cost? If we could go back in time, I think we would find people who would have protested our post-war presence in Japan and Germany, and what it cost. There would have been those who would have said that the price paid for keeping our nation united, and bringing freedom to slaves as too steep. And there would have been those who would say that independence from Britain was not worth the lives it cost. I think it was worth it.
The problem we have is that we are right in the middle of it. Only time will tell for sure if these lives were worth it. And fortunately, we will never have to see what might have happened had Saddam been left unchecked. If he had been allowed to develop WMDs, smuggle them into this country, and detonate them in Detroit or Dallas, we would say, it would have been worth three thousand lives plus, if we could have saved 300,000 lives in the USA. If we could do a Hollywood thing, and could see what might have happened in ten or fifteen years, we might look at our current situation and say, these lives were worth it.
By Politics and Culture on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
Len said:
“I’m still looking for that prophet on the left who will boldly challenge the status quo on abortion.”
Me too. I appreciate much of what I hear from ‘left-leaning’ theologians (McLaren, Campolo, Miller, etc.) But most are strangely silent when it comes to the murder of the unborn.
Why is that?
By Jonathan on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
jasonk,
I not a serious cyclist, but I try to at least ride an MS150 each year (and hopefully at least a little training in prep for that).
You make a good point about things looking differently from different temporal perspectives. Each new situation/action ultimately must be judged on its on merits though…I can’t support a path that seems wrong to me now just because other (maybe similar) paths have succeeded previously.
Other people see things differently, but to me preserving the integrity of our nation, opposing Hitler’s conquest of Europe, even opposing Hussein’s incursion in Kuwait are fundamentally different than what we’ve done in Iraq. I’m not saying we should have done nothing (we weren’t doing nothing before the invasion), I just don’t think what we have done has been wise because (so far at least, and IMHO) things haven’t turned out for the better.
By matt elliott on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
Here’s Matt’s list:
(100%) 1: Sen. Barack Obama (D)
(87%) 2: Ex-VP Al Gore (D)
(87%) 3: Sen. John Kerry (D)
(82%) 4: Gov. Bill Richardson (D)
(82%) 5: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D)
(82%) 6: Retired Gen. Wesley Clark (D)
(73%) 7: Sen. Christopher Dodd (D)
(70%) 8: Gov. Tom Vilsack (D)
(70%) 9: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D)
(65%) 10: Ex-Sen. John Edwards (D)
(63%) 11: Sen. Joseph Biden (D)
(48%) 12: Sec. Condoleezza Rice (R)
(46%) 13: Rep. Ron Paul (R)
(43%) 14: Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R)
(43%) 15: Gov. Mike Huckabee (R)
(41%) 16: Gov. Mitt Romney (R)
(39%) 17: Ex-Rep. Newt Gingrich (R)
(39%) 18: Sen. John McCain (R)
(36%) 19: Gov. George Pataki (R)
(29%) 20: Sen. Chuck Hagel (R)
(21%) 21: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R)
(21%) 22: Sen. Sam Brownback (R)
(19%) 23: Sen. George Allen (R)
(17%) 24: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R)
By Scott on Feb 15, 2007 | Reply
Democrats For Life
By len on Feb 16, 2007 | Reply
I have checked out Democrats For Life and really like their stance. They are a group I can support. My complaint, however, is more with those in the church realm, not the political. McLaren will say things like abortion is a tough issue that we need to deal with. But then he never deals with it. His letter was a good letter. But why couldn’t he say something about Obama’s stance on abortion? These guys rightfully want to move away from many of the “right-wing” policies. But the abortion of 1.3 million unborn every year should get mentioned along with Darfur, AIDS, the war, the environment. That is what I am wanting and waiting for.
By Jonathan on Feb 16, 2007 | Reply
len,
I agree. I’d like to see that. I don’t like to see groups issuing ultimatums and threats (it’s our way or the highway!), but I think it would be more healthy for left-leaning Christians to not be strangely silent about abortion when we engage with left-leaning politicians.
By scott on Feb 16, 2007 | Reply
I’d like to see it as well. But I think the problem is that abortion is one of those topics that you cannot have a civil discussion on in this society. It is so polarized between the groups that many, and I include myself here, just don’t know how to successfully broach the discussion without alienating half the people right off the bat.
And if you equivocate at all? You lose everybody.
And that is a shame because I think there is great room for discussion.
By Dan on Feb 16, 2007 | Reply
My t10 - FWIW
(100%) 1: Gov. Bill Richardson (D)
(96%) 2: Ex-Rep. Newt Gingrich (R)
(96%) 3: Sen. George Allen (R)
(94%) 4: Gov. George Pataki (R)
(94%) 5: Sen. Joseph Biden (D)
(84%) 6: Gov. Mitt Romney (R)
(81%) 7: Rep. Ron Paul (R)
(75%) 8: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R)
(75%) 9: Sen. Sam Brownback (R)
(73%) 10: Sec. Condoleezza Rice (R)
President Jesus is an interesting thought - Ahmadinejad begins a “wipe Israel off the map” campaign, or Kim Jong Il perfects the Taepodong-2 and grazes Anchorage or Seattle with a one-megaton - does He turn the other cheek?
Or is that just another “bus before you’re baptized” argument?
By Tracy on Feb 16, 2007 | Reply
Here’s my top 10. I may end up sleeping on the couch tonight.
(100%) 1: Gov. George Pataki (R)
(94%) 2: Ex-Rep. Newt Gingrich (R)
(91%) 3: Sen. George Allen (R)
(89%) 4: Gov. Mitt Romney (R)
(84%) 5: Sen. Chuck Hagel (R)
(76%) 6: Rep. Ron Paul (R)
(75%) 7: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R)
(74%) 8: Sen. Sam Brownback (R)
(69%) 9: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R)
(69%) 10: Sen. John McCain (R)
By len on Feb 21, 2007 | Reply
One of the things I like about you and this site, Scott, is that you don’t back down from controversial issues. Look at what you are tackling: non-violence, speaking out against the Iraq war, global warming, name-calling and what it reveals about us. That is quite a polarizing list. That is what frustrates me about people like McLaren. They are willing to tackle every other controversial issue, but seemingly are afraid of offending the left so they don’t talk about abortion. I hope that is not the case. I feel the same about Tony Campolo. I love his material, but he is strangely silent on abortion unless he has said some things I am unaware of. Why won’t one of these new leaders have the courage to not worry about offending the left or the right?
By Scott on Feb 21, 2007 | Reply
Thank you, Len. Hopefully we are raising the level of discourse here.
Campolo is pro-life and has talked about it in recent books. His thought (without speaking for him, of course) is that the way to reducing abortions is not through legislation by through the church being the church.
I would like us to get to the point on both sides where we can say that “abortion is not the ideal but it is a reality in our society and is not likely to go away. So, what do we do to stem the tide? How do we change lives and ensure that no baby is unwanted or unloved.”