Rating the Candidates on the Issues

Posted by Eric F. Langborgh on 09 Oct 2007 at 03:31 pm

Here’s an interesting interactive tool over at MSNBC: The Candidates + Issues Matrix.  Each of the presidential candidates from both major parties are placed on a grid on the X axis, with major issue categories on the Y axis. 

And you get to rank each candidate on each issue.  For each issue, the tool gives a synopsis of each candidates position, and even provides a video clip of the candidate in their own words.  The result is a matrix depicting your preferences for each candidate on each issue simultaneously.

Here is my matrix:

(Note that the candidates are, from left to right: Democrats — Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson — and Republicans- Sam Brownback, Rudolph Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo, and Fred Thompson.  Key: More red equals more negative.  More green equals more positive.)

As any Borg Blog reader would predict, Ron Paul get’s a 100% from me.  Note also that I ranked the candidates based on their stated positions, as represented by MSNBC.  But given their actual records, I don’t trust Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani for a second, even in those areas where I ranked them fairly favorable.

One major omission is the issue of abortion.  On this most important issue, only Ron Paul, Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, and Tom Tancredo would score strongly green.

© 2004-2008 Eric F. Langborgh