Where Do You Stand? (2016 Election)

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

That's one of the big issues with these kinds of political surveys: Libertarianism isn't a party, but rather a scale similar to conservatism and liberalism. Basically, your libertarian and socialist values would be on one scale and your liberal/conservatism on the other. This is because there have been many Left Libertarians (Like Ghandi, who wanted practically no government involvement in life) as well as socialist conservatives (Stalin, Mao, the Kims of North Korea) but these examples run country to what we typical consider to be left and right issues. It doesn't help that the self styled Libertarian and Socialist parties have latched onto other issues to gain weight.

If it helps, think of Socialism and Libertarianism as where you stand on government involvement in your life economically (and just governmental strength in general), where as liberalism and conservatism are where you stand on social and religious issues.
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

Bernie Sanders...85%
Hillary Clinton...81%
Martin O'Malley...61%
Rand Paul...58%
Scott Walker...25%
Ted Cruz...23%
Carly Fiorina...21%

It's interesting to note where I differ, ideologically, from certain candidates.
I like Rand Paul, for instance. But I only match him 58% because he's pro-life, anti National Parks, supports fracking, couldn't give a crap about global warming, and wants to do away with the affordable care act and is a big border-fencer. His stances on things like marijuana, immigration, and ISIS appear to support a much stronger police state than we have today (as if what we had today wasn't already over the top ridiculous)

Taken down the slippery slope, that ideology can lead to an isolationist regime that could easily be the setting of a dystopian cyberpunk story where the government is run by MegaCorps and we live virtually as wage slaves in a polluted and dangerous world. Kinda like the Blade Runner movies.

Hm. I guess I don't like Rand Paul as much as I thought. ;)
 
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Celt Z

Celt Z

Okay, let's see here...

Bernie Sanders...93%
Hillary Clinton...87%
Martin O'Malley...72%
Blah, blah, blah....

Chris Christie...42%?!?! :Leyla: Ugh, I feel dirty.
 
tegid

tegid

AshburnerX said:
That's one of the big issues with these kinds of political surveys: Libertarianism isn't a party, but rather a scale similar to conservatism and liberalism. Basically, your libertarian and socialist values would be on one scale and your liberal/conservatism on the other. This is because there have been many Left Libertarians (Like Ghandi, who wanted practically no government involvement in life) as well as socialist conservatives (Stalin, Mao, the Kims of North Korea) but these examples run country to what we typical consider to be left and right issues. It doesn't help that the self styled Libertarian and Socialist parties have latched onto other issues to gain weight.

If it helps, think of Socialism and Libertarianism as where you stand on government involvement in your life economically (and just governmental strength in general), where as liberalism and conservatism are where you stand on social and religious issues.
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Yeah, I pretty much agree that there are two axes to define all this. I find the word choice of liberal/conservative confusing, but that's vocabulary. But I thought libertarianism was an ideology that used BOTH axes. In the political compass graph ( http://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2012 ), libertarians would be on the bottom right (the compass itself proves me wrong, since it labels 'libertarian' the social freedom extreme). I'm on the bottom left, and the US as a whole is has its political center much more to the right than Europe. That's why the agreement with Rand Paul confused me!
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
I got Bernie at 93%, Hillary at 91%, and the rest at 60% on down. I don't feel dirty matching some of these things because the questions aren't that nuanced,
 
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drawn_inward

drawn_inward

This is probably bad to admit, but I didn't know who Bernie was. I thought Bernie was a nickname for Hillary. I haven't been keeping up with politics much at all. I don't have a whole lot of respect for any of them. I also don't really watch or read much political news. When I did keep up with it, I was foaming at the mouth all the time, and was running the country from my couch. Now, I am so cynical that I think that House of Cards is a documentary.
 
Necronic

Necronic

Staff member
Christ.....

I sided heavily with Libertarians, Rand Paul, and Donald Trump....

And the only reason why is that there wasn't a question asking "Do you understand political policy at a 5th grade level or higher..."

Anyways, I could care less. I'm still voting for Hillary. I think my number came out like this because I disagree with her on a lot of issues I don't really care about. I should probably retake the quiz and clarify importance.[DOUBLEPOST=1436294548,1436294479][/DOUBLEPOST]Oh wow though, I've always considered myself a bit of a centrist. And no joke, my little marker is square in the center of the field.
 
Zappit

Zappit

Staff member
Bernie Sanders - 91%
Hillary Clinton- 89%
Martin O' Malley - 75%
Mike Huckabee - 54% (agreed on no major issues, by the way)
Rand Paul - 27% (agreed on a couple major issues, so the Huckabee thing's weird)

Why yes, I am from Massachusetts. How did you guess?
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Amy said:
Those that are best fit to lead, do not want to.
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Ah, found my exact quote, but it was on reddit in a thread titled "What are some things that you think should be laws but aren't (and likely never will be)?", not in the forums.
On reddit PatrThom said:
The pool of candidates to choose for public office may only be composed of people who are not actively seeking public office
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--Patrick
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Covar said:
Doesn't matter. Most of those polled either won't show up to vote (different from a blank ballot) or will vote D or R because they're sheep tricked into believing that if you don't vote for "the lesser of two evils" you're throwing your vote away, when in truth it's the exact opposite.
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This extends into the primary. Americans are keenly aware that they need a candidate that pulls in the undecided voters at the last stage, causing many people to pick a primary candidate that they believe "can win", rather than believes as they do. So we're not even getting the candidates we really want from the parties we already have because the end game is usually decided by swing votes anyways and getting the swing votes is all that matters anymore.
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

Covar said:
Doesn't matter. Most of those polled either won't show up to vote (different from a blank ballot) or will vote D or R because they're sheep tricked into believing that if you don't vote for "the lesser of two evils" you're throwing your vote away, when in truth it's the exact opposite.
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I've been voting for the greater of two evils for years! :problemo:
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
AshburnerX said:
This extends into the primary. Americans are keenly aware that they need a candidate that pulls in the undecided voters at the last stage, causing many people to pick a primary candidate that they believe "can win", rather than believes as they do. So we're not even getting the candidates we really want from the parties we already have because the end game is usually decided by swing votes anyways and getting the swing votes is all that matters anymore.
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Even that's falling apart though, as the last few elections have shown that the republican base - so often assumed to be a gimme - isn't averse to staying home on election day if they don't like their party's candidate enough.

But I agree with Covar... the electorate has been fooled into a prisoner's dilemma regarding their choices of president for as long as I've been alive.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

GasBandit said:
Even that's falling apart though, as the last few elections have shown that the republican base - so often assumed to be a gimme - isn't averse to staying home on election day if they don't like their party's candidate enough.
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I fully expect this to hit them hard this cycle. With 15-17 big name choices before the first debate, there is a significant chance that people are going to stay home when their candidate doesn't win.
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

AshburnerX said:
I fully expect this to hit them hard this cycle. With 15-17 big name choices before the first debate, there is a significant chance that people are going to stay home when their candidate doesn't win.
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I wouldn't be so sure. Just like with the Dems, I think there will be Party votes. I have personally not voted on certain elections due to a lack of a third-party option.
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler



I identified more Republican when I was younger. But I think that's because I only focused on a very narrow subset of issues. Kind of weird to see the socialist party so high. Maybe I should move to a European country ;)
 
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