# Short Political Quiz for American Dopers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 7, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087 "2003-10-07T16:24:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/41 "2003-10-07T20:26:08Z")
1. Yeah, the test looks kinda out-dated. ---
**Author:** ![TaxGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TaxGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaxGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/42 "2003-10-07T20:34:19Z")
27 My issues: 1. What the hell does it mean to “trust” the post office or professional athletes, fer chrissakes? 2. I don’t like how it asks about economic issues and social issues and then at the end gives you one score on one continuum. I guess it’s cuz I’m one of those “fiscally conservative and socially liberal” types. 3. They should have just adjusted the numbers so that consiervatives don’t “get more points” than liberals. Although I did like the neat effect that Jesse Jackon is a zero, which quite nicely squares with my perception of him. 4. It often asked for my opinion on an issue that there is no way in hell I could have an informed opinion about, like whether the government should cut defense spending or what would be a better way to curb crime. 5. Definitely dated. Who’s thought about freakin’ Haiti in the longest time? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/43 "2003-10-07T20:38:24Z")
18-Just to he left of Powell ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/44 "2003-10-07T20:52:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fruitbat \* > \*\*I came in at 19. My responses were wildly mixed, but I thought it was a fairly accurate description of where I fall in the American political spectrum. \*\* 18 and dittoes to the above. I am against everything, just about, except for Gay marriage, which is strange, since that really doesn’t affect me. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/45 "2003-10-07T21:05:05Z")
Please. That final scale was so left-slanted it was laughable. Reagan is their idea of “100% conservative”? By pure definition (i.e. extremely strong election results), Reagan was a slightly-right-leaning moderate, much as Clinton was a slightly-left-leaning moderate. If Jesse Jackson is far left, then far right is more like Pat Robertson or worse. Oh, as you probably already suspect, I scored a 30. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/46 "2003-10-07T21:18:12Z")
18 here ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/47 "2003-10-07T21:27:46Z")
**Shib** - Yeah I know I wonder when I started being anti-everything. I’m only thirty and I can feel the onset of curmudgeonhood in my bones. God forbid, I might be Andy Rooney by the time I’m fifty. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/48 "2003-10-07T21:37:08Z")
Thank God (no offense to athiests) for **SanibelMan**. I was beginning to think that **Kalessa** and I were going to be run out on a rail by all you Colin Powell-esque conservatives! 😃 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/49 "2003-10-07T21:48:22Z")
I scored a 24, and I generally think of myself as being on the liberal side of moderate. However, this test has stuck with the conventional idea that all liberals believe A and all conservatives believe Z. For example, on the question about whether the breakdown of the traditional family is the most serious domestic issue in our society–my answer cannot possibly be a yes or a no here. I happen to think it’s perhaps the most prominent symptom of a larger problem. I also want smaller government. The feds are involved in some things I think they have no business doing–for example, most liberals want to save the NEA; I say, why bother? However, I am totally in favor of some federal regulations (like EPA and environmental laws) that are traditionally conservative whipping boys. There are different considerations involved in each instance and I don’t have a blanket position. Trial lawyers v. doctors? Players v. owners? How about, everybody’s pretty much a self-interested s.o.b.? What about the cynics among us? God forbid the possibility that anybody might think for themselves instead of simply taking the party line. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/50 "2003-10-07T22:02:13Z")
Some of the questions should have had more options. But I still came out a 9. That’s more liberal than I thought I was. Hmm. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/51 "2003-10-07T23:27:48Z")
9…seems to be a popular number. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/52 "2003-10-08T02:28:11Z")
1. ---
**Author:** ![constantine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@constantine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constantine)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/53 "2003-10-08T03:35:49Z")
I scored a 19. I guess that makes me a moderate, but I don’t think of myself as a moderate–halfway between Democrat and Republican–so much as a low key libertarian. I hate about 49% of what the Democratic party stands for (e.g. tax and spend liberalism, beholden to big labor and overregulation both of which stifle innovations) and I hate about 51% of what the Republican party stands for (restricting a woman’s right to have an abortion, the “war on drugs,” homophobia) ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/54 "2003-10-08T03:36:33Z")
15, I _am_ Bill Clinton… errr… actually I just got his score. 😉 Of course, as said before, too many questions that I ended up just flipping a mental coin to answer. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/55 "2003-10-08T03:44:26Z")
1. Between Clinton and Powell, and just slightly to the left of **gobear**. Sounds accurate to me. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/56 "2003-10-08T04:18:44Z")
16 as well. I thought I would’ve done better… ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/57 "2003-10-08T04:32:54Z")
I got a 13. I think that’s overly conservative; the last time I registered with a party (here in IL that isn’t an option), I was a Green. My favorite question was who do you trust more, the USPS or the Pentagon? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/58 "2003-10-08T04:37:05Z")
The Pentagon. It knows a little less about my porn collection. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/59 "2003-10-08T04:42:14Z")
1. About where I figured – I do believe that the government is too big and the media too liberal, but also favor environmental regulations and gay marriage. In Ohio, I registered as a Democrat to vote against the “loony leftists” in primaries. Now that I’m a Hoosier, I plan to declare myself Republican in order to cast primary ballots against the “Creationism in public school biology class” advocates. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Peter\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/60 "2003-10-08T10:47:05Z")
19, I can’t really get behind either the Republican or Democratic party. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087.md?page=4)