On The Issues: Trying to get past the political rhetoric
As of January 2008, the most open field for presidential candidates in many, many years–especially on the Republican side. So you have been browsing around YouTube watching presidential candidates debate? A few years ago, I never thought I would get “news” through YouTube. Of course, I’m hesitant to call political debates news. News it seems should be more objective/factual and less about charisma and being well-spoken–not that people in charge of “nu-clu-er” weapons shouldn’t be well-spoken.
So if you are trying to past the he said/she said (hey, I can actually say that now) and base your vote on consistency (what politicians were saying and voting for before they were running–yes, I know some of you may say that some candidates were always planning on running this year), I recommend issue oriented websites. One of my favorites is OnTheIssues.org. It’s been around since 2000. Actually, coverage of the 2000 election and a large amount of information on the 2004 election is still on the site. The conclusions and scale/chart at the bottom is a little over the top as if a vote on one issue makes one +/- 3 points on a scale.
Do you have a better political issue comparison web site to recommend? How do you get around the political rhetoric without letting the candidates or interest groups influence you?
Further Reading on Current Events
- And we wonder why we have a debt problem
- Voting and photographing the election in Indiana
- 2004 Greece Olympics photographs posted