USAToday Candidate match game seems fair to Paul

[Mr. White]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/candidate-match-game.htm

I put in my views, came out as a strong Paul supporter. You could also mouseover each question and find out how all the other candidates answered it as well. After spending 5 minutes with it, seemed fairly useful and fair.

Treat it like a poll and paste into your browser. You never know when they'll be counting.

[quickmike]

This is what I got:


1 Ron Paul

2 Fred Thompson

3 Dennis Kucinich



Problem with Fred is that he only "claims" to be for the things that USA Today says hes for. His actions speak differently.

[Qiu]

they don't count Ron Paul as a vet

[Mr. White]

Oh definitely, the info itself isnt always great, and the answers are sometimes skewed and loaded, but in terms of actually allowing a user to reach Ron Paul, it seems fair.

[Mr. White]

they don't count Ron Paul as a vet

They mention his service as a flight surgeon right below that under support. As it IS in the experience box, I'm not crying foul. Might just be how they seperate political service from military service.

[Qiu]

They mention his service as a flight surgeon right below that under support. As it IS in the experience box, I'm not crying foul. Might just be how they seperate political service from military service.
When I selected military experience as the most important kind of experience, and raised the importance of experience... Ron's bar didn't increase while Dodd's, McCain's, and Hunter's did.

[OptionsTrader]

I got Ron Paul and Kucinich. Everyone else was left far behind.

[micahnelson]

hey guy, according to USA Today, i support RON PAUL!

Should we start pointing people to this? Someone take it as a pro war conservative and see what you get

[maxmerkel]

they don't count him as a military veteran !!
and of course he has run a buisiness : he was a Dr. and had to run his medical office ???

[Mr. White]

Fair enough. Perhaps some polite emails to USA Today are in order?

[micahnelson]

Also they said that he supports a same sex marriage ban...

[EvilTwinkie]

Paul, Kucinich and Thompson came up the first time

2nd time - Paul, Kucinich and Giuliani.... (ACK!)

[tmg19103]

Scary. RP #1 by a landslide, but then Tancredo and Giuliani. How can those two be so close to RP issues?

[Ron Paul Fan]

I also got Paul, Thompson, and Kucinich. I don't think some of the positions are completely accurate though.

[EvilTwinkie]

They need a few questions about government corruption and support for the constitution.

[mport1]

These questions suck. There is no choice for pro-immigration people.

[Ridiculous]

Not bad.

I got Paul, Hunter, Giuliani...

[DrNoZone]

I came out with:

1. Ron Paul
2. Bill Richardson
3. Rudy Giuliani

Rudy? WTF? Oh well, I guess SOMEONE had to be number 3.

[winston_blade]

1. RP
2. Gravel
3. Rudy

I would never vote for Rudy though.

[richard1984]

There's a bit of misinformation (or at least misunderstanding) on Dr. Paul's stance in response to the question, "What should the federal government's emphasis be in dealing with illegal immigration?"
While RP did vote for a bill that included a fence, he has said himself that it is not a high priority of his (since it's the welfare and other incentives that bring them here--not the lack of a fence :rolleyes:). Also, Ron Paul is a true conservative, so why would he build a fence when he can solve the problem by removing the incentives and increasing the number of boarder guards?

Anyway, Dr. Paul definitely doesn't think that "the federal government's emphasis...in dealing with illegal immigration" should be on "Erecting fences along U.S. boarders."

[EvilTwinkie]

How important is the US Constitution to modern day government?

1. It is an outdated, antiquated document that is mostly for tradition. It is mostly irrelevant.
2. It is not a rigid guideline for our government, but should be followed whenever possible.
3. It is a living document that should be amended according to current needs and followed to the letter. Laws should be checked periodically to verify their constitutionality.
4. It is the highest law of the land, and is not open to interpretation. Laws and executive orders should be sent to the supreme court immediately upon passage to verify their constitutionality. Punishments for violating the constitution should be more severe. All functions of government not authorized in the constitution should be abolished, or the constitution amended to include such functions.

[Kregener]

Ron Paul was WAY out on top for me.

*BUT*

"Fair"? I dunno. After I was done, I adjusted the sliders on the right. When I moved the "experience" to the +, Ron Paul went DOWN. He was still on top, but he is a 10-term congressional Representative for crying out loud.

[grfgerger]

Not the best quiz, but I did get Ron Paul.

Paul, Giuliani :( :(, McCain

[richard1984]

I think that they're also wrong about his stance on marriage.
Just because he thinks marriage is between a man and a woman, it does not follow that he will enforce this opinion on everyone else.
I mean geez! We shouldn't even have to get marriage licenses to get married. They only came around when the slaves were freed and marriage between a black and a white person became an issue. (Isn't that right? Or something like that? I know that we shouldn't have to have gun licenses (the 2nd Amendment sure as hell doesn't say we have to have a license to bear arms--only that we have the right to keep and bear arms), and that they only came about with the abolishment of slavery, as a way to keeping "angry" ex-slaves from buying guns.
But yeah, anyway...USAToday needs to do some more research!!! (and they call themselves reporters....:rolleyes:)

[Tin_Foil_Hat]

1 Paul
2 Tancredo
3 Hunter

Sounds about right.

[richard1984]

Oh yeah...and I got 1.) Paul, 2.) Tancredo, 3.) Giuliani. (:confused:)

So it's definitely not the most accurate quiz.... I wonder where they got their information from (obviously not a very good source). Seems like reporters, journalists, etc. would know how to research a little better. (Of course, I don't really have much in the way of high expectations for them...I know better.)

[Ninja Homer]

There's definitely some mistakes in this quiz:

Question 3: Should the US government continue to fund the Iraq war.
Answered "No, because the US presence in Iraq is encouraging terrorists."
Ron Paul didn't go up.

Rudy went up for "scrap the entire tax system and start over"?

[speciallyblend]

RON PAUL BABY #1 Chris dodd and then fredhead ugh

[The Only Woj]

1. Paul
2. Hunter
3. Giuliani (noooooooo!)
3. Gravel (if I tweak the sliders it swaps out Giuliani for him)

I'm checking out the test here ... Paul's "correct answer" for number 3 is to get out because we're not doing well, not because we're encouraging terrorists (which his answer should be). Getting out because we're not doing well implies he'd want to stay if we were (like the Democrats).

And I found this VERY WEIRD.

For the income tax question, select "scrap the entire system" makes PAUL AND GIULIANI GO UP! Giuliani thinks its fine the way it is!

[OptionsTrader]

There's definitely some mistakes in this quiz:

Question 3: Should the US government continue to fund the Iraq war.
Answered "No, because the US presence in Iraq is encouraging terrorists."
Ron Paul didn't go up.

Rudy went up for "scrap the entire tax system and start over"?

Noticed that as well on my end/

[The Only Woj]

I did another with slightly different answers (how I felt pre-getting to know Ron Paul)

came up with Paul, Tancredo and Romney. after using the sliders, it was:

1) Paul
2) tie (Tancredo, Romney, Thompson)

[Patriot]

1) Paul
2) Gravel
3) Tancredo

(anyone who got Ghouliani should just leave the board now. ;))

[angelatc]

Paul, Hunter, Tancredo.

[kalami]

I don't like that you can tinker with your answers so as to conform with your candidate of choice.

[aghman]

I sent this quiz to my family as a way of opening up a discussion about this election. They usually aren't interested in talking about politics, so I've been looking for a way to start a useful discussion. I included my results as a way to introduce them to Ron Paul. :)

[Paulitician]

1. Ron Paul
2. Tom Tancredo
3. Fred Thompson

by messing around with the sliders I got

1. Ron Paul
2. Tom Tancredo
3. Bill Richardson

Not too bad results, except Fred Thompson who's a nobody. I wouldn't vote for anyone other than Ron Paul anyway, so number 2 and 3 don't matter to me.

[RobotJaxxon]

Weird quiz. Seems to emphasize people with unique positions.

I got:

1: Paul
2: Guiliani
3: Kucinich

Of course the result would have been different if they asked how I feel about divisive politicians who ridicule and belittle those who don't agree with them.

I tried again, giving the biggest pro-government answers I could, and I got:

1: Kucinich
2: Romney
3: Thompson

Cute quiz though.

[ThePieSwindler]

The reason alot of us seem to get rudy is becuse when you choose the choice for th income tax "scrap the system and start over", both ron and rudy jump ALOT. I've never heard rudy say anything about that.. and hasnt he actually laughed at Ron for talking about that before? This is cute, but its not entirely accurate. In fact rudy gets a SHIT ton of points for tax reform. I moved the tax reform slider from the middle all the way left and rudy goes from like 5th to 2nd for me. Has he ever said anything about low taxes or abolishing the IRS? I think some of these positions are messed up.

[TheDuke]

1. Ron Paul
2. Dennis Kucinich
3. Rudy Guiliani (??)

[ThePieSwindler]

again, people are getting Rudy Giuliani so high because they are, for some reason, saying that his position is to "scrap the system and start over", which i thought meant abolish the IRS and the like. IT counts for ALOT, it moved him up from like 5-6 to 2nd for me.

[Keith]

1 Paul
2 Brownback
3 Kucinich

In reality I have no second or third choice.

[cujothekitten]

This is what I got:


1 Ron Paul

2 Fred Thompson

3 Dennis Kucinich


Same here.

[OceanMachine7]

I got:

1. Paul
2. Tancredo
3. Hunter

[Cowlesy]

1.) Paul
2.) Giuliani (wtf?)
3.) Romney

[swissmiss]

1.) Paul
2.) Giuliani (wtf?)
3.) Romney

Oh god, I am glad not to be the only one.

[Paulitician]

The reason alot of us seem to get rudy is becuse when you choose the choice for th income tax "scrap the system and start over", both ron and rudy jump ALOT. I've never heard rudy say anything about that.. and hasnt he actually laughed at Ron for talking about that before? This is cute, but its not entirely accurate. In fact rudy gets a SHIT ton of points for tax reform. I moved the tax reform slider from the middle all the way left and rudy goes from like 5th to 2nd for me. Has he ever said anything about low taxes or abolishing the IRS? I think some of these positions are messed up.
Indeed that's what I noticed too. However, if his Mayor days are any indication of what he'll do as president, expect more and higher taxes, ridiculous ones at that. For instance the commuter tax and the commercial rent tax...

[Suzu]

I got Paul, Gravel, Thompson. Tweaking the sliders swapped Thompson and Giuliani.

[drednot]

This poll is GREAT for Ron Paul.

Like the "Worlds Smallest Political Quiz" a lot of people who previously lacked a label for themselves will find out they are in line with Ron Paul and libertarian ideals.

The main problem with this poll is that it's based on what the candidates claim to support, rather than what their record shows, so flip-floppers don't get punished.

Btw, I got:

Ron Paul
Brownback Romney Giuliani Thompson

Brownback only did well because I picked flat tax. (As in, a 5% flat tax.) Kinda bogus for only one guy to go up.

Romney only did well because I picked corporate experience.

When I tune the sliders, Gravel and Kucinich move up to join Thompson and Brownback.

Clinton, Dodd, Hucakbee, Hunter, Richardson and Tancredo all tie with zero.

[mike1]

1. Ron Paul
2. Tom Tancredo
3. Mitt Romney

I would never vote for Romney though

[Nash]

USA TODAY Staff
News editor wrote: 1h 20m ago
Nashdiesel: Many thanks for your observation. The game has now been updated to reflect that.

Nashdiesel wrote: 1h 59m ago
You guys forgot that Ron Paul has 5 years of Military experience in the Air Force. On the "military experience" matrix view he didn't get a check for that column. Can USA today please fix this oversight?

Fixed!

[SWATH]

1. Paul
2. Thompson
3. Gravel

[Minlawc]

Mine were 1. Paul, 2. Thompson, and 3. Duncan Hunter? Of course Dr Paul is way ahead of the others.:D

Lowest was Richardson, Huckabee, Clinton, Brownback, and Biden

[NPursuit357]

I got:

1. Paul
2. Tancredo
3. Hunter

Same here. The fact this quiz nailed exactly how I would choose a top 3 if I had to today, I find it pretty accurate.

[Blowback]

Overall I thought it was pretty good. I think Dr. Paul should get some points where he didn't but it could have been much much worse.

[The Only Woj]

I sent an email message to the accuracy@usatoday.com, haven't gotten a response back. Just pointed out a few things that Paul should get points for and a couple things where others should/shouldnt.

[john_anderson_ii]

When I selected military experience as the most important kind of experience, and raised the importance of experience... Ron's bar didn't increase while Dodd's, McCain's, and Hunter's did.

Me: Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, Hunter (The only checkboxes for Tom & Duncan were immigration issues)

As far as military experience, if RP didn't deploy for more than 6 months during a combat campaign (basically, if he didn't receive more than 6 consecutive months of combat pay), then he's not a "war veteran" on paper. I think he was a stateside flight surgeon during Vietnam, but I could be mistaken.

[Brian4Liberty]

Look at Tax Reform and Health Care for each candidate. They have both Ron Paul and Rudy Guiliani saying "free market" and "scrap the current system"...

Probably puts Rudy high on your results...

[frasu]

What the heck, moving the "experience" to the +, Ron Paul goes DOWN??

And all the points that Fred gets are crazy...

Ron, Fred, Mitt

[reduen]

Paul
Tancredo
Huckabee

:)

[freedominnumbers]

Weird

1. Paul
2. Giuliani
3. Thompson

Oddly G and T were nowhere near the top until I answered "has run a business" for the last question. Then they took off like a rocket.

[Hurricane Bruiser]

I took the quiz both anti war and pro war and both results gave me Ron Paul. All of the other issues outweighed the war when doing things pro war but it took awhile for RP to come back up.

Doing things anti war:
1. Ron Paul
2. Fred Thompson
3. Duncan Hunter

Pro War:
1. Ron Paul
2. Fred Thompson
3. Rudy Guiliani

I've also notice that Rudy gets tons of points on taxes. My beef with Rudy is that he seems to be a rather authoritarian type of guy and doesn't respect the 2nd Amendment no matter what he currently says.

[rg123]

I got Ron, Dennis, and Fred

[LibertyEagle]

Oh God!!! I got...
1. Ron Paul
2. Rudy
3. Fred

Rudy????????? I think NOT.

[LibertyEagle]

Yeah, some of the answers are weird. They list specifics and then the last option says... just scrap it all and start all over. Things like that.