# The Political Gauge. Take the test and see how you score. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 20, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643 "2004-08-20T02:27:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/101 "2004-08-20T17:25:08Z")
Non-Fiscal: Moderate Liberal (24) Fiscal: Centrist (60) Seems roughly correct, but I stress _roughly_. I’ve yet take one of these surveys that didn’t leave me feeling backed into a corner. The choices never seem nuanced enough, though I like, in this case, that one could weight the answers according to priority. Still, with this, and all others of its ilk, I invariably wish there were a few more choices for my answer. “None of the above” tends to reflect my truest feelings, but what’s the point in taking a survey when you express no oppinion? Hence, I’m always left picking the answer that feels like the best compromise, and I’m never completely satisfied with the result. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/102 "2004-08-20T17:27:26Z")
On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a **Moderate Liberal (34).** On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a **Moderate Conservative (71).** Sounds pretty much right for me. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/103 "2004-08-20T17:33:05Z")
On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Moderate Conservative (71). On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Strong Conservative (95). Count me in with the “no big shock there” crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/104 "2004-08-20T17:39:59Z")
On Non-Fiscal Issues, I rank as a Strong Liberal (10). On Fiscal Issues, I rank as a Strong Liberal (8). Damn right. The gun question threw me for a loop, though – I’m against gun control, because it’d probably work about as well as the drug control works in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/105 "2004-08-20T17:49:06Z")
One example of a question that bugged me: On the gay marriage issue, the options were “no oppinion”, or the usual standard options: reserved for heteros, marriage for everybody, civil unions for homos, marriage for heteros. Me, if I had the choice, I would have said “civil unions for everybody; institutionalized ‘marriage’ violates separation of church and state”. Since no such option existed, I had to pick “marriage for everybody”, which is in accordance with my anti-discriminatory ethics, but completely opposed to my anti-state-sponsored-religion ethics. None of the choices made me very happy, and hence the answer I was forced to give bore little resemblance to my real preference. Can’t anybody design a better political compass? ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/106 "2004-08-20T17:59:16Z")
On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Centrist (52). On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Moderate Conservative (70). ---
**Author:** ![MrTuffPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MrTuffPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrTuffPaws)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/107 "2004-08-20T18:03:56Z")
Who’d a thunk it On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Moderate Liberal (26). On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Centrist (58). I did not like how most of the questions were stated though. ---
**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/108 "2004-08-20T18:26:01Z")
On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Centrist (43). On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Strong Conservative (95). Seems about right. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/109 "2004-08-20T18:40:08Z")
On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Strong Liberal (16). On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Moderate Liberal (29). As with many others, no big surprise here. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/110 "2004-08-20T19:07:39Z")
On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Centrist (56). On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Centrist (45). ---
**Author:** ![Feit\_C\_Taj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@Feit\_C\_Taj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feit_C_Taj)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/111 "2004-08-20T19:28:25Z")
> [@](#): > > On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Moderate Liberal (29). > On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Moderate Liberal (27). And you didn’t even call me a pinko at the last Dopefest. I’m totally crushed. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/112 "2004-08-20T19:37:00Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > On the gay marriage issue, the options were “no oppinion”, or the usual standard options: reserved for heteros, marriage for everybody, civil unions for homos, marriage for heteros. Note that it also said “leave it up to the states to decide”. This test seemed more like a “what do you think the powers of the federal government should be” test than a true poltical compass. One might have different answers if the questions were asked about federal vs state authority. Probably difficult for a non-American to take. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/113 "2004-08-20T20:08:01Z")
On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Strong Liberal (16). On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Moderate Liberal (35). But some of the questions were poor. For the media one, how come you can’t be against conglomerate ownership and censorship? They aren’t the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/114 "2004-08-20T20:20:39Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > I thought I’d be on the left side of the spectrum for non-fiscal issues. I guess not wanting to ban all guns makes me a big time conservative. :rolleyes: Nope. I don’t want to ban guns either, and I scored a 10 NF. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/115 "2004-08-20T20:43:56Z")
> [@Doktor Fluff](#): > > And you didn’t even call me a pinko at the last Dopefest. I’m totally crushed. No. He saves that for me. On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Strong Liberal (7). On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Strong Liberal (9). Sounds about right. ::MsRobyn wanders off to burn a bra and annoy a fascist pig:: Robin ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/116 "2004-08-20T20:45:40Z")
On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Strong Liberal (14). On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Strong Liberal (2). I’ll admit, though, that I’m pretty ignorant on fiscal issues and I think I may have just picked whichever option sounded the most liberal for some of those questions. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/117 "2004-08-20T20:48:29Z")
On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Centrist (45). On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Centrist (55). Not that many Centrist-Centrists here, from what I see (besides me, only **lieu** ) ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/118 "2004-08-20T21:02:28Z")
On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Moderate Conservative (66). On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Moderate Conservative (70). ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/119 "2004-08-20T21:21:20Z")
On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Strong Liberal (5). On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Moderate Liberal (32). Well, that explains why my invite to the RNC in New York has not arrived. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643/120 "2004-08-20T21:54:55Z")
Dang. > [@](#): > > On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Strong Liberal (13). > On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Strong Liberal (17). I consider myself a lot more pragmatic than the simple-minded wording of these questions would support, but there you go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-political-gauge-take-the-test-and-see-how-you-score/260643.md?page=7)