Voter Education

December 26, 2007 1:40 PM

Teach me to be a better informed voter for the next Presidential election

I'd like to educate myself about the presidential candidates. Wading through their respective campaign material would be one obvious option, but I am afraid I will waste a lot of time on reading their self-promotion and propaganda.

So I'm looking for a comprehensive website to educate myself about the current presidential candidates: what they say they stand for on wide-ranging issues (social, political, domestic, international), what they said in the past they stand for, what they voted for in Congress, etc. Ideally, it should be fairly objective, but I don't even know if that's possible. I'll settle for something that clearly separates facts from analysis. Is there such a site?

posted by Pantalaimon to law & government (11 answers total)

There are plenty of 'em. Project Vote Smart is one.
posted by box at 1:55 PM on December 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

if this is not too obvious, wikipedia has extensive, well cited pages on all the candidates' platforms, political stances and history. here's an example, but use this as your jumping-off point.
posted by ism at 2:01 PM on December 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

I liked this PICK YOUR CANDIDATE quiz.
posted by goml at 2:06 PM on December 26, 2007

There is also 2DECIDE.com
posted by goml at 2:09 PM on December 26, 2007

Also check your local newspapers (the bigger ones that cover the state), as most will have their own "convenience" sections for political candidates. Of course, those may be published closer to the actual poll dates, though, from what I remember. Other online newspaper sources like the NYT have their own dedicated sections as well.

It's usually best not to stick with just one site source when it comes to political views, of course. And above all, you should have an idea where you stand on major issues before you start wading in. In fact, if there is a particular issue that's critical to you, it may be useful to start looking at candidates from that perspective first.
posted by Ky at 2:11 PM on December 26, 2007

I would suggest actually going to their websites and reading what they have to say. I've done that, and I found it extremely useful. Obviously you need to follow up with more research. But their websites will give you a good sniff test.
posted by Ragma at 2:16 PM on December 26, 2007

Elections 2008.
posted by mlis at 2:18 PM on December 26, 2007

I think Ky's second suggestion is a good start. If you know where you stand, it will be relatively easy to rank the candidates on how well their views, proposals, and past history match your views. Also you can watch who is endorsed by organizations that advocate for whatever might be your particular issues. This is a lot easier on "social" issues and harder on things like economic and trade policy.

Knowing my own views fairly well it's quite easy to throw out the entire Republican field and then rank the plausible Democrats in order of preference. I quickly get down to two who I would be fairly happy with and a slight preference for one over another. Of course, who knows if either will still be on the ballot when my primary comes around, but I am clear who I will vote for in both the primary and the general.

Also newspapers often do a comparison thing right before your primary, and American papers at least think they are trying to be objective. The New York Times is doing a bunch of long articles on each candidate which are sometimes informative even while being infected by the political press's infuriatingly trivial and superficial approach.
posted by lackutrol at 3:22 PM on December 26, 2007

Two previous AskMe threads asking similar questions with valuable responses:

Focus on the Issues.

Doing My Homework.

posted by ericb at 3:58 PM on December 26, 2007

don't watch TV.
posted by Substrata at 4:22 PM on December 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

And above all, you should have an idea where you stand on major issues before you start wading in.

You should probably also have an idea where the various sources you're looking at stand on the major issues too, as that's going to color how they present the candidates stances on the issues.
posted by JaredSeth at 8:39 AM on December 27, 2007