Isn't this website misrepresenting our side?

[Some Moran]

We're certainly not that close to Dumbass.

http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/usprimaries.html

[Darranar]

1. I noticed that too...

it makes little sense.

[Some Moran]

3. Well...

This site's tendency is to skew it's readers into the liberatarian-left (Not hard to do in our case) and to make politicians of all stripes look like reactionaries.

[pnorman]

9. Having taken that test several times myself

(quite LEFT, quite LIBERTARIAN), I believe it's a legitimate website, with no particular axe to grind. I'm always a little skeptical of somone deciding how someone else would answer a battery of tests, but I guess it can be done. Elsewhere, they also rate Bishop Tutu and Albert Einstein in the same 3d quadrant as myself. That strikes me intuitively as about right.

As a Kucinich supporter, I haven't been paying enought attention to the other candidates. But Dean and the rest being so clearly in the 1st quadrant DOES surprise me.

But the absolutely VITAL requirement in a candidate at this critical time, goes beyond left-right & libertarian-authoritarian. It's COURAGE and HONESTY. I'll leave it to you guys to decide who FLUNKS that test.

[Warpy]

8. Move the demarcation betwen left and right

smack into the middle of Howard Dean. Then move that authoritarian/libertarian line just a bit north. Then move the Chimp up to the far upper right, and you'll have a chart that more closely reflects reality.

Of course, this site is there to convince the politically confused that they're really libertarians. It's just too bad their chart is so skewed.

[rucky]

2. On the world spectrum...

that's about right (pardon the pun).

[Syrinx]

4. Lieberman is more liberal than Edwards?

That's what it seems to indicate.

[Military Brat]

5. I can't believe they don't show bush hanging off the edge

The least they could do is be accurate and show his red rubber ball all the way to the upper right.

[William Seger]

14. Maybe...

Maybe they just rated Bush on what he says, rather than what he actually does. What he says is fairly moderate. F'ing liar...

[ramblin_dave]

6. My first thought was that you meant DU

didn't represent our side.

Sometimes I wonder.

[Zorra]

7. Looks about right to me.

Braun might be a little more to the left though.

[fabius]

10. I'm off to the left of Kucinich.

Which doesn't surprise me that much.

I'm a bit surprised about Dean and Clark being where they are.

[WillyBrandt]

11. Such nonsense

These foolish two-axis political grids are designed to make people think they are Libertarians. What junk.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

12. Kerry's more liberal than Dean?

Heh, I guess that sort of makes sense.

[WilliamPitt]

15. It makes a great deal of sense

The record is pretty clear, sans the Iraq war issue. Kerry has the best environmental record in this race, a 19 year history of voting correctly on virtually all of the important issues.

Kerry on the issues:

Abortion

No criminalization of a woman's right to choose. (Jun 7)
Voted NO on maintaining ban on Military Base Abortions. (Jun 2000)
Voted NO on banning partial birth abortions. (Oct 1999)
Voted NO on disallowing overseas military abortions. (May 1999)

Budget & Economy

No excuse for special tax cuts for the rich. (Jun 17)
Voted NO on prioritizing national debt reduction below tax cuts. (Apr 2000)
Voted NO on 1998 GOP budget. (May 1997)
Voted NO on Balanced-budget constitutional amendment. (Mar 1997)

Civil Rights

Include a sunset provision in the Patriot Act. (Jun 17)
Voted YES on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
Voted YES on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. (Jun 2000)
Voted YES on setting aside 10% of highway funds for minorities & women. (Mar 1998)
Voted NO on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business. (Oct 1997)
Voted NO on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
Voted YES on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)
Voted NO on Amendment to prohibit flag burning. (Dec 1995)
Voted NO on banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds. (Jul 1995)
Shift from group preferences to economic empowerment of all. (Aug 2000)

Education

Voted YES on funding smaller classes instead of private tutors. (May 2001)
Voted YES on funding student testing instead of private tutors. (May 2001)
Voted YES on spending $448B of tax cut on education & debt reduction. (Apr 2001)
Voted NO on Educational Savings Accounts. (Mar 2000)
Voted NO on allowing more flexibility in federal school rules. (Mar 1999)
Voted NO on education savings accounts. (Jun 1998)
Voted NO on school vouchers in DC. (Sep 1997)
Voted NO on $75M for abstinence education. (Jul 1996)
Voted NO on requiring schools to allow voluntary prayer. (Jul 1994)
Voted YES on national education standards. (Feb 1994)
Offer every parent Charter Schools and public school choice. (Aug 2000)
Three R’s: $35B for Reinvestment,Reinvention,Responsibility. (Jan 2001)

Energy & Oil

Invest in advancing secure forms of energy instead of oil. (Jun 17)
Led effort to try to raise fuel efficiency standards. (May 3)
Create new energy sources to end Mideast dependency. (May 2002)
Voted YES on targeting 100,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2010. (Jun 10)
Voted YES on removing consideration of drilling ANWR from budget bill. (Mar 19)
Voted NO on drilling ANWR on national security grounds. (Apr 2002)
Voted NO on replacing CAFE standards within 15 months. (Mar 2002)
Voted NO on preserving budget for ANWR oil drilling. (Apr 2000)
Voted YES on keeping CAFE fuel efficiency standards. (Sep 1999)
Voted NO on defunding renewable and solar energy. (Jun 1999)
Voted NO on approving a nuclear waste repository. (Apr 1997)
Voted NO on do not require ethanol in gasoline. (Aug 1994)
Supports tradable emissions permits for greenhouse gases. (Aug 2000)

Environment

Safeguard the environment and grow the economy. (Jun 17)
Voted NO on confirming Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior. (Jan 2001)
Voted NO on more funding for forest roads and fish habitat. (Sep 1999)
Voted NO on transportation demo projects. (Mar 1998)
Voted YES on reducing funds for road-building in National Forests. (Sep 1997)
Voted YES on requiring EPA risk assessments. (May 1994)

Government Reform

Flag and patriotism belong to all Americans. (Jun 17)
Voted YES on banning "soft money" contributions and restricting issue ads. (Mar 2002)
Voted NO on allow signatures for voter registration instead of photo IDs. (Feb 2002)
Voted YES on McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform. (Apr 2001)
Voted YES on limiting funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. (Aug 1999)
Voted YES on cloture of 1998 McCain-Feingold overhaul of campaign finance. (Feb 1998)
Voted YES on favoring 1997 McCain-Feingold overhaul of campaign finance. (Oct 1997)
Voted YES on Approving the presidential line-item veto. (Mar 1996)
Voluntary public financing for all general elections. (Aug 2000)

Health Care

Cover more citizens with health plan like Congress gets. (May 3)
Lack of accessible health care is a disgrace. (May 2002)
Voted YES on allowing importation of Rx drugs from Canada. (Jul 2002)
Voted YES on allowing patients to sue HMOs & collect punitive damages. (Jun 2001)
Voted NO on funding GOP version of Medicare prescription drug benefit. (Apr 2001)
Voted YES on including prescription drugs under Medicare. (Jun 2000)
Voted NO on limiting self-employment health deduction. (Jul 1999)
Voted YES on increasing funds for Medicare prescriptions. (Mar 1999)
Voted YES on increasing tobacco restrictions. (Jun 1998)
Voted NO on banning human cloning. (Feb 1998)
Voted YES on Medicare means-testing. (Jun 1997)
Voted YES on medical savings acounts. (Apr 1996)
Establish "report cards" on HMO quality of care. (Aug 2000)

Social Security

Don't threaten Social Security on Wall Street trading block. (May 2002)
Voted NO on Social Security Lockbox & limiting national debt. (Apr 1999)
Voted NO on allowing Roth IRAs for retirees. (May 1998)
Voted NO on allowing personal retirement accounts. (Apr 1998)
Voted NO on deducting Social Security payments on income taxes. (May 1996)
Create Retirement Savings Accounts. (Aug 2000)

War & Peace

De-Americanize Iraq: the exit strategy is victory. (Sep 9)
Vote for war was needed to push Saddam on inspectors. (Sep 9)
$87B for Iraq only when internationalization is addressed. (Sep 9)
Don't miss 3rd opportunity in Iraq to bring in UN. (Sep 4)
Don't send more US troops to Iraq-share power & share burden. (Sep 4)
Against a misapplied blanket pre-emptive doctrine. (Jun 17)
Intelligence information should not be manipulated. (Jun 17)
Disarm Saddam, but war should be a last resort. (May 3)
Preferred diplomacy, but supported invading Iraq. (May 3)
Vietnam didn't threaten US; US war crimes did. (Apr 1971)
Vietnam war was criminal hypocrisy and tore apart US. (Apr 1971)
Voted YES on authorizing use of military force against Iraq. (Oct 2002)
Voted NO on allowing all necessary forces and other means in Kosovo. (May 1999)
Voted YES on authorizing air strikes in Kosovo. (Mar 1999)
Voted NO on ending the Bosnian arms embargo. (Jul 1995)
Condemns anti-Muslim bigotry in name of anti-terrorism. (Oct 2001)

http://issues2002.org/Senate/John_Kerry.htm

==================

Howard Dean:

Abortion

Abortion is none of the government's business. (Nov 2002)
Partial birth abortion ok to protect the mother. (Nov 2002)
Favors abortion rights. (Nov 2002)

Budget & Economy

Politicians promising everything causes budget deficit. (Sep 25)
Balance budget, even if unpopular. (Sep 25)
Republicans haven't balanced a federal budget in 34 years. (May 17)
Stand up to Bush for a balanced budget. (May 3)
Social justice with fiscal responsibility. (Nov 2002)
Fiscally to the right of "borrow-and-spend" Bush. (Nov 2002)
Regional transportation network to foster trade & economy. (Jul 2000)
Bankruptcy reform: limit Chapter 7; protect states' role. (Feb 2001)
Uphold commitments to states before other spending. (Sep 2001)

Civil Rights

Passed civil unions, despite it being unpopular. (Sep 25)
Affirmative action counters built-in hiring biases. (Sep 9)
Profiling doesn't work. (Sep 4)
Patriot Act shows reckless disregard of civil liberties. (Jun 17)
Supported civil unions for same-sex couples. (Nov 2002)
Support principles embodied in the Equal Rights Amendment. (Feb 2001)

Corporations

Corporate America is insensitive to plight of middle class. (Sep 25)

Education

Bush's "No Child Left Behind" is an unfunded mandate. (May 17)
Don't let Congress dictate definitions of school prayer. (Nov 2002)
GOP education bill imposes an unfunded mandate on states. (Nov 2002)
Supported Act 60's controversial statewide education fund. (Nov 2002)
No-Child-Left-Behind is Every-School-Board-Left-Behind. (Nov 2002)
School Choice
Under no circumstances abandon the public schools. (Nov 2002)
Apply VT's limited standards for failing schools, not GOP's. (Nov 2002)
Improve and invest in public schools. (Aug 2001)

Energy & Oil

Help developing countries reduce greenhouse gases. (Jan 14)
Our energy policy is one of our biggest security threats. (Nov 2002)
Voluntary partnerships reduce greenhouse gases economically. (Aug 2000)
Kyoto Treaty must include reductions by all countries. (Aug 2000)
Create Regional Emissions Registry for GHG trading. (Aug 2001)

Environment

Free trade must include environmental standards. (Apr 15)
No need to poison ourselves in order to have growth. (Nov 2002)
Eliminate mercury releases by 2003. (Sep 2000)
More state autonomy on brownfields & Superfund cleanups. (Aug 2001)
Support State Revolving Loan Fund for flexible Clean Water. (Aug 2001)

Foreign Policy

Intertwine into alliances, to create international stability. (Jun 25)
Embrace nation-building over isolationism. (Nov 2002)

Government Reform

Reforms must respect state's rights to select electors. (Aug 2001)

Gun Control

Get guns off the national radar screen: no new federal laws. (Nov 2002)
No more federal gun laws; leave them to states. (Nov 2002)

Health Care

Build senior Rx program on Vermont program. (Sep 25)
Bush's Rx program is a political trap: looks good, bad plan. (Sep 25)
Wrong to compare any Dem to Gingrich: I support Medicare. (Sep 25)
Join every other industrialized country on health care. (Sep 4)
Bush prescription: take 2 tax cuts and see me in the morning. (May 17)
As doctor, knows health system; and knows how to pass plan. (May 17)
Subsidize health care for small businesses, not corporations. (May 3)
96.4% of Vermonters are covered; deliver that to America. (May 3)
Guarantee health ins. like other industrialized countries. (Nov 2002)
Three-tiered coverage: state, federal, and private. (Nov 2002)
Patient Bill of Rights is hot air: get people insured. (Nov 2002)
Full access first, then tackle reform afterwards. (Nov 2002)
Universal access for all Vermonters; insure the last 6%. (Jan 2001)
Keep “community rating”: insure older people at same rates. (Jan 2001)
No federal pre-emption of employee health plan regulation. (Oct 2001)
Protect state tobacco settlement funds from federal seizure. (Apr 1999)

Homeland Security

Focus war budget on protecting vital infrastructure. (Jun 17)
Anti-war, but has national security experience as governor. (May 3)

Social Security

Considered raising retirement age to 70-now keep it at 67. (Sep 25)
Maintain long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare. (Aug 2001)

http://issues2002.org/Howard_Dean.htm

[Toucano]

13. It is British, isn't it?

I think it is based on a different set of criteria. I don't agree with it at all.

[brainshrub]

16. I took the test. Here are my results:

Economic Left/Right: -5.00
Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.36

What about you folks?

[mikehiggins]

17. Me and Ghandi

I hit -7.12 on the Economic left/right index and -3.69 on the libertarian/authoritarian index.

Since I was involved in setting up the Free Libertarian Party of New York thirty years ago, and I've spent my life butting heads with the power freaks, I guess that's pretty close.

[onebigbadwulf]

18. I don't

understand why libertarians vote for Bush when he is the most authoritarian of everyone.