My girlfriend is an interesting portrait of political contrasts. She sometimes describes herself as a 'conservative', but when you talk to her about the issues, she tends to land on the liberal side of them more often than not. I know she is not alone in that. Numerous polls have shown that the public leans left on most issues, even when they describe themselves as conservative or independent. My GF is currently leaning toward McCain, but I suspect if she really examined where the candidates stand on the issues, she would probably flip to Obama.
The problem as I see it, is that people often vote the same way they shop. They settle in on a particular 'brand' and then don't want to be bothered with constantly checking the ingredients lists. Politicians certainly don't make it any easier. They often speak in hard-to-verify generalities and purposely distort their opponent's record.
This election season, however, we have a unique opportunity. The three most likely presidential candidates are currently all serving in the Senate. We need only compare their voting records to clearly differentiate where they stand on the issues. Follow me over the jump to see how I suggest we do this.
My idea is to create a web application that will help an undecided voter figure out which candidate most closely tracks with him or her on the issue. The application will describe (in easy to understand language) legislation that all three candidates had the opportunity to vote on and then ask the reader to 'vote' on it also. When done, it will tally the results and show how the user's votes compare to each candidate.
I've also thought about having the user assign an importance or weight to each issue, as well as awarding additional 'points' to a candidate if they were the originator or a sponsor of the legislation.
The tough part will be wading through the many Senate votes to find those that are most representative of the issues voters care about. I can think of a few issues that are most important to me, such as: Bankruptcy legislation, telecom immunity, Iraq withdrawal timetable, and restoring Habeas Corpus. I've begun sifting through the Senate voting records for each candidate, but there is a lot to get through if I wish to have anything useful before the big primaries in Texas and Ohio. This is where the DailyKos community can help. What issues do you see as most important? Which Senate vote best encapsulates each issues? How did each candidate vote? Did they sponsor the bill?
I welcome your suggestions in the comments. I'll try to pull it all together in a web app over the next few days.
Thanks