I find the on-line political quiz games (matching your views with candidates very frustrating) - I posted the following on another chat board that was beating the quiz to death:
I have problems giving YES/NO answers to ill-defined questions.
"Do you favor or oppose the concept of universal health care in America?"
Well, I favor the concept of every US resident having reasonable access to vital health care - but the devil is in the details (what is "reasonable", what is "vital").
I do not, however, favor a tax-payer funded system of "Universal Healthcare (i.e. a single-pay Canadian system).
So, how do I answer? I chose to put my emphasis on "concept", and answered "yes", which threw my profile far to the left. I could have chosen to read "tax-payer" funded into "universal" and answered "No", which would have thrown my profile to the right.
Answers to other issues can also be misread - I fully support the state's right to "take a life for a life, but feel that as practiced in our country capital punishment is not a deterrent to crime, the administration of the process of prosecuting capital crimes is flawed, and the added expense of such prosecutions is a waste of tax payer dollars. So do I "support capital punishment" - a big YES in theory, a definite NO in practice.
I do feel a pregnant women has no "right" to have an abortion, at tax-payer expense, but feel it is good public policy to provide same.
How do I 'lean" on the 2008 Presidential Race? Well presented with Clinton vs Keyes or Richardson vs Brownback, The Democrat gets my vote. Presented with Clinton vs Giuliani or Edwards vs Mc Cain, the Republican gets my vote. Other match-ups still have me pondering the problem of "lesser evils". Presented with a third party challenger with little chance of success, I will vote for one of the principals, presented with Bloomberg and a fair shot of derailing a Kerry vs Romney candidacy, the Independent gets my vote.
Black and white questions do not work well in a grey world.
But, the game is entertaining, so I play.
der Brucer
NOTE: I am not inviting debate on my positions, merely pointing out the problem of evaluating the results of Yes/No type quizs.