pegwinn
12-19-2007, 10:22 PM
Politics 101:
Rush Limbaugh calls it the "Hawkeye Cawkeye", but you likely know it better as the Iowa Caucus. It is like the official starters gun to the Presidential general election. After Iowa, there are a quick succession of states holding primaries and based in part on these results a candidate is selected to represent his/her party.
Then the fun begins. From 3 Jan thru 7 Jun it's all primaries. These are to pledge delegates to the conventions to select the candidate. It is very likely that long before the last primary on 7 Jun we will know who the winners are. Super Tuesday is 5 Feb and there are over 2000 delegates at stake.
So, how do you decide to vote? What criteria do you use to weed out the weak from the strong within your party? IOW folks, what do you expect from "your guy"
Because of the extra long run up to Iowa, this political season has been a roller coaster. By now, if you don't know zip about your guy you need to get off the dime.
I am writing this assuming that you are someone who intends to vote. If you aint voting then please stop reading and go place your head in the sand, label yourself a victim, and resume sleepwalking thru life.
How to pick your guy:
First and foremost, are you in a party? If you are, then you already have a field narrowed and can vote in a primary. If you are a registered independent, you are out of the game until the general election.
The first criteria is to see how your choices stack up against your core beliefs. There are plenty of online tests where you fill out a questionnaire and the weely wacky web will spit out the name of who you are compatible with. It's like match.com for political nerds. You might even get doctor phil to help you out.
Try any of these to help you narrow the broad spectrum a bit. I am not going to list all of them. Just type "candidate picker" or somesuch into google. But as a general idea, here are two:
Candidate Picker (http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html): A list of issues, weighted by LMH prioritization. Shows your number one, and then the midpack, and bottom of the barrel. For me, it was reasonably accurate in a very general sort of way. It is IMO missing some key questions about the nation at large and the constitution specifically. For me the top 8 of 10 were R's.
Select Smart .com (http://www.selectsmart.com/president/2008.html): Instead of issues it is questions asking how your ideal candidate would vote on dis, dat, and duh udder ting. Again, it leaves out constitutional questions directly. My results were totally different. My number one from above was number four on this one.
Once you have a clue where the candidates in general fall, you need to get into specifics. The best place overall I have found for unbiased research is Project Vote Smart (http://www.vote-smart.org/index.htm). It has a sixteen year history and uses a standardized questionnaire (the National Political Awareness Test, or Political Courage Test) for everyone. When you select a candidate you can see his/her voting record, answers to the NPAT/PCT (and the last year they filled it out), ratings from special interest groups, and public statements. You can do this all they way down to the local level. It is also great for state elections.
Finally, you need to see where your guy fits in with your own Corps Values. You may totally agree with the stated policies of politico A, but not trust him to actually live up to it. There has to be a balance between ethics and effectiveness. Me? I would prefer an absolutely honest pol who I didn't always agree with. You have to use your own sliding scale. To help you, I adapted the Marine Corps Leadership Traits and Principles. I wrote it for aspiring pols. I have found that according to issues I tend to go Tancredo/Hunter/McCain. According to Corps Values I go Ron Paul. While I agree that Giuliani got things done, I don't trust him any farther than I did Bill Clinton. That bit of editorializing wasn't intended to influence you. Just to show you the possible conundrum you could face if you are truly honest with yourself.
Leadership Traits for Congress (http://the--realist.blogspot.com/2007/02/leadership-traits-for-congress.html)and Leadership Principles for Congress (http://the--realist.blogspot.com/2007/02/leadership-principles-for-congress.html#comments) were written and posted on my blog a while back. Read the traits first as the principles put the traits to use. I hope you will find them useful or will discuss your own ways and means of selecting your guys.
And now....... back to to my granddaughter. C'ya
Rush Limbaugh calls it the "Hawkeye Cawkeye", but you likely know it better as the Iowa Caucus. It is like the official starters gun to the Presidential general election. After Iowa, there are a quick succession of states holding primaries and based in part on these results a candidate is selected to represent his/her party.
Then the fun begins. From 3 Jan thru 7 Jun it's all primaries. These are to pledge delegates to the conventions to select the candidate. It is very likely that long before the last primary on 7 Jun we will know who the winners are. Super Tuesday is 5 Feb and there are over 2000 delegates at stake.
So, how do you decide to vote? What criteria do you use to weed out the weak from the strong within your party? IOW folks, what do you expect from "your guy"
Because of the extra long run up to Iowa, this political season has been a roller coaster. By now, if you don't know zip about your guy you need to get off the dime.
I am writing this assuming that you are someone who intends to vote. If you aint voting then please stop reading and go place your head in the sand, label yourself a victim, and resume sleepwalking thru life.
How to pick your guy:
First and foremost, are you in a party? If you are, then you already have a field narrowed and can vote in a primary. If you are a registered independent, you are out of the game until the general election.
The first criteria is to see how your choices stack up against your core beliefs. There are plenty of online tests where you fill out a questionnaire and the weely wacky web will spit out the name of who you are compatible with. It's like match.com for political nerds. You might even get doctor phil to help you out.
Try any of these to help you narrow the broad spectrum a bit. I am not going to list all of them. Just type "candidate picker" or somesuch into google. But as a general idea, here are two:
Candidate Picker (http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html): A list of issues, weighted by LMH prioritization. Shows your number one, and then the midpack, and bottom of the barrel. For me, it was reasonably accurate in a very general sort of way. It is IMO missing some key questions about the nation at large and the constitution specifically. For me the top 8 of 10 were R's.
Select Smart .com (http://www.selectsmart.com/president/2008.html): Instead of issues it is questions asking how your ideal candidate would vote on dis, dat, and duh udder ting. Again, it leaves out constitutional questions directly. My results were totally different. My number one from above was number four on this one.
Once you have a clue where the candidates in general fall, you need to get into specifics. The best place overall I have found for unbiased research is Project Vote Smart (http://www.vote-smart.org/index.htm). It has a sixteen year history and uses a standardized questionnaire (the National Political Awareness Test, or Political Courage Test) for everyone. When you select a candidate you can see his/her voting record, answers to the NPAT/PCT (and the last year they filled it out), ratings from special interest groups, and public statements. You can do this all they way down to the local level. It is also great for state elections.
Finally, you need to see where your guy fits in with your own Corps Values. You may totally agree with the stated policies of politico A, but not trust him to actually live up to it. There has to be a balance between ethics and effectiveness. Me? I would prefer an absolutely honest pol who I didn't always agree with. You have to use your own sliding scale. To help you, I adapted the Marine Corps Leadership Traits and Principles. I wrote it for aspiring pols. I have found that according to issues I tend to go Tancredo/Hunter/McCain. According to Corps Values I go Ron Paul. While I agree that Giuliani got things done, I don't trust him any farther than I did Bill Clinton. That bit of editorializing wasn't intended to influence you. Just to show you the possible conundrum you could face if you are truly honest with yourself.
Leadership Traits for Congress (http://the--realist.blogspot.com/2007/02/leadership-traits-for-congress.html)and Leadership Principles for Congress (http://the--realist.blogspot.com/2007/02/leadership-principles-for-congress.html#comments) were written and posted on my blog a while back. Read the traits first as the principles put the traits to use. I hope you will find them useful or will discuss your own ways and means of selecting your guys.
And now....... back to to my granddaughter. C'ya