So, election time is coming around again, and I read in the news that Gore has now chosen his running mate. This’ll be my first chance to vote for President (I was of age in '96, but there was a mix-up with the absentee ballots), and I want to vote responsibly. The problem is, the sum total of my knowledge about the candidates comes from word-of-mouth and Doonesbury cartoons. Is there any good place to find (relatively) unbiased information about the candidates? I’m looking for factual information, mostly, like what issues they claim to support, how they’ve voted on various issues (for legislators), what other actions they’ve taken in previous offices, etc. Anyone got any pointers?
A good place to read Al Gore’s own line is here:
A good place to get the candidates’ stands on various issues is here:
For general info on bio’s, issues, platforms, etc., try this one:
or its Democratic counterpart here:
http://www.democrats.org/index.html
Though, personally I think the DNC spends too many electrons bashing the Republicans instead of explaining its own positions.
Chronos, the very idea of voting responsibly. Just keep that up and you’ll be wanting actually to understand the relevant issues. Aren’t sound-bites good enough for you?
On the chance you will stick to your guns and avoid the great rush to snap judgement, you can do far worse than to go here. This is a great site for political junkies of all stripes; they have national and state news and opinion, candidates’ positions, pending legislation, money trails, and schedules. They have presidential inauguration addresses. Want to read what Van Buren said when he was sworn in? They got it. All 4 of FDR’s inaugurals? Piece of cake. Need to talk to someone? They have email addresses for all kinds of pols and officials. Advocacy groups? They have links to the National Restaurant Association and the Arab American Institute. They have it all.
What’s most amazing to me is their founding sponsors. I didn’t think a group this disparate could agree on taking out the trash but their site makes you proud to live in a participatory democracy. Good luck on doing your own participating.
Founding Sponsors
AFL-CIO
American Conservative Union
Americans for Tax Reform
Business-Industry Political Action Committee
Christian Coalition
Democratic Leadership Council
EMILY’s List
People for the American Way
Sierra Club
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Thanks, TNTruth, that Issues2000 looks like just what I was looking for. Their coverage of Lieberman is still rather spotty, but I’ll check back there in a few days.
I was going to recommend Voter.com as well. I’m sure you know this already but keep in mind who is behind whatever you read about the candidate. Depending on who you read, Al Gore wants to kill babies, make us all ride the horse and buggy, and get rid of all manufacting jobs and George Bush is an oil man who hates blacks, catholics, jews, and wants to take food out of babies mouths.
I do admire your willingness to go beyond the slogans and commercials and make an informed decision on what you believe. I wish everyone were like you in that regard.
It’s all relative baby…
State or local chapters of the League of Women Voters (www.lwv.org) often publish voter’s guides which include detailed information on every candidate (not just the Demicans and Republocrats) for offices at the federal, state and local levels. The guides are usually available at your board of elections office or the public library. Definitely an excellent resource.
I’ve found a reliable, if somewhat complicated, gauge comes from taking the report cards from all the various lobbying groups and averaging them together.
Never rely on a single source for all the information you need.
This place doesn’t pretend to be unbiased, and certainly isn’t, but at least it’s biased against all the candidates instead of in favor of one of them.