2008 is still an open playing field and I'm betting even DKos readers might not know as much about the candidates as they think they do. So: quiz time! Checking Wikipedia is cheating!
- Only one candidate does not explain their positions at all on their campaign website. Which one?
- Only two candidates voted against the USA PATRIOT Act. These same two candidates are the only two who would repeal NAFTA. Who are they?
- Three candidates would abolish the income tax. Who are they?
- What federal program would all the Democrats, except Biden and Dodd, create as president?
- Four candidates would legalize medical marijuana. Who are they?
- Which candidates are known to be widely disliked by the citizens they served in some of their previous jobs?
- Which Republican candidates have a plan for leaving Iraq, ever?
- Which Democratic candidate is not a current or former Congressperson?
- Which candidates would be a "first ever" if elected?
- When's the next Democratic debate?
- Only one candidate does not explain their positions at all on their campaign website. Which one?
Hillary Clinton
All the 2004 candidates had an "Issues" link on their homepage. It's not just common sense, it's the single most obvious thing to put there. All the 2008 candidates do the same... except for Hillary.
- Only two candidates voted against the USA PATRIOT Act. These same two candidates are the only two who would repeal NAFTA. Who are they?
Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich
Paul and Kucinich are the only candidates with balls. They would both cancel CAFTA and remove the United States from NAFTA and the WTO, which have done much damage both to ourselves and our allies. Paul and Kucinich also both voted against the PATRIOT Act in 2001, whereas Hillary voted for it.
- Three candidates would abolish the income tax. Who are they?
Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, and John Cox
You can be excused for not knowing the name of John Cox, a party-line Bush Republican except for his stand-out position on dissolving the IRS and replacing it with the FairTax (a position he shares with Mike Gravel). The FairTax would be a 23% sales tax on nearly everything you buy-- it would generate the same amount of money as the income tax but with no bureaucracy. Ron Paul would replace the income tax with nothing, opting instead to eliminate most of the federal government and give money for stuff such as education back to the states.
- What federal program would all the Democrats, except Biden and Dodd, create as president?
Universal health care
All the Democratic candidates except for Biden and Dodd have some sort of plan to extend health care to all Americans.
- Four candidates would legalize medical marijuana. Who are they?
Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, and Bill Richardson
The first three candidates support full legalization. Richardson has not posted an official position anywhere but recently signed a medical marijuana bill into law in New Mexico.
- Which candidates are known to be widely disliked by the citizens they served in some of their previous jobs?
Dennis Kucinich, Mitt Romney, and Rudy Giuliani
Kucinich was regarded as a bungler during his term as mayor of Cleveland in 1977-78, although he was later praised for some of his decisions, and he has done a much better job serving Ohio in the House of Representatives since 1996. Mitt Romney is another story entirely: he spent most of his term as Massachusetts governor traveling around the country preparing for his presidential campaign, insulting the citizens of Massachusetts in faraway venues, and loudly denouncing whatever the Massachusetts legislature happened to be doing at the time.
[edit: thanks, N. Stone] Rudy Giuliani was also widely disliked before 9/11. After 9/11 he attempted to get an emergency extension on his term for very vague reasons.
- Which Republican candidates have a plan for leaving Iraq, ever?
Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul, and maybe John Cox
Nearly all the Republican candidates would remain in Iraq indefinitely, or as Jon Stewart likes to say, "sometime between now and the end of time." Tancredo wants a time table. Ron Paul would leave immediately. John Cox has the somewhat bizarre idea of giving Iraq lots of money and pulling out when they become economically prosperous. Needless to say, all the Democrats have a plan for leaving Iraq extremely soon.
- Which Democratic candidate is not a current or former Congressperson?
Bill Richardson
Bill Richardson is governor of New Mexico. All the other candidates have served in the Senate, except Kucinich who served in the House. The last Senator to ascend to the Presidency was Richard Nixon in 1968.
[thanks N. Stone for the correction]
- Which candidates would be a "first ever" if elected?
All of them. Everyone is special! Isn't that nice?
I figured all of these out myself, so if you steal this list pleeeease credit me:
Barack Obama would be the first black President.
Hillary Clinton would be the first female President.
Mitt Romney would be the first Mormon President.
John Cox would be the first President without any previous experience in the United States government (including the military).
Rudy Giuliani would be the first mayor of New York to become President.
Bill Richardson would be the first President from New Mexico.
Joe Biden would be the first President from Delaware.
Sam Brownback would be the first President from Kansas the Alpha Gamma Rho frat house. [edited. thanks Bleeding Blue]
Tom Tancredo would be the first President from Colorado.
John McCain would be the first President from Arizona.
Mike Gravel would be the first President from Alaska.
Tommy Thompson would be the first President from Wisconsin.
Chris Dodd would be the first President to admit he's from Connecticut.
Ron Paul would be the first President to eliminate a Cabinet office without replacing it with another.
Duncan Hunter would be the first President to have participated in a debate produced exclusively by a YouTube user.
Dennis Kucinich would be the first President to be elected after introducing a bill to get a member of the executive impeached.
Jim Gilmore would be the first President whose name rhymes with another President (Millard Fillmore).
John Edwards would be... um... I give up!
- When's the next Democratic debate?
On June 3.
This could well be the hardest question to answer, since the DNC doesn't have a list of debates anywhere. I've compiled all the announced debates on my website.
I spent a couple of hours researching this but it might not be totally accurate. Please let me know if there are any mistakes.
Also, there are a lot more questions I could ask (about gay rights, Social Security, etc.) but it wouldn't fit in the lead block and this already took a lot of time anyway. Please let me know how you scored and propose some questions of your own in the comments!