J, you just seriously disappointed me by your endorsement of Clinton. Really. (Not that my opinion matters, of course, but hey, I might as well throw it out anyway, since you'd berate me for what I'm about to say either way.)
To be honest, none of the candidates are really appealing, or interesting, or fit my views. Kucinich agrees with me when it comes to gay rights--full on equal rights, meaning marriage and everything, not this idiotic "separate but equal" civil unions crap--but he goes too far when it comes to gun control. (I am firmly in favor of the Second Amendment as a check on the government's power.)
Clinton and Edwards both support universal health care--though I expect even corporations will begin to in a couple years once they finally get it through their thick skulls how much money it actually saves in the long run--but are otherwise both populists who will say anything to just get votes. Consider how Clinton talked about listening to what lobbyist groups have to say without actually doing anything lobbyist groups suggest be done. I can understand why she'd say that...some people think all lobbying groups are useless, some think they should always be listened to, and then there's people like me who would discriminate (I would, for instance, listen to the ACLU, but not a lobby group trying to lessen environmental regulations). But thing is, she's two faced and will gladly change her position on any number of things just to get votes, and Edwards is the same, making both of them very, VERY unpalatable in my eyes.
Obama has good judgment and the closest to a sound energy policy, but I'll admit I'm worried I'm just liking him because he has charisma and that he's actually more like Bush in the sense of using his charisma to hide ineptitude(only unlike Bush he can succeed at it with the more intelligent people.) Still, if I had to pick a candidate, he'd be the one I'd vote for. I'm almost willing to try to become a delegate at the Democratic Convention--which is being held just down the hill, relatively speaking, from me--but I don't have the influence or the wealth to achieve that. (Which is really too bad, because this is the only time I'd probably be willing to do it.)
And I'm not going to even look at the Republican side...they're all nutters, from McCain's constant varying on issues like abortion, to Romney's "We'll DOUBLE Guantanamo!" to Ron Paul's American style Libertarianism...sorry, Ron, but after some serious evaluation of your positions I've lost any respect I ever had for you. You're a throwback, not a "revolutionary" and you certainly would made things worse in many ways.
Even if they weren't all nutters though, I'd still not even contemplate voting for them, because
A. The Republican Party is far-right winged.
B. I'm left-winged by an international standard...by the American standard I'd be a lunatic hanging far off the edge of the side of the left-wing spectrum.
C. I do not want to see the Republican party in power again considering how badly they screwed a lot of things up over the past seven years.
Hell, I'm only voting for a Democrat because--very, VERY sadly--the way they and the Republicans have set up the power structure in this country, there's no way a sensible Green or Independent could get in...otherwise I'd encourage someone like Nader to go full steam.
And as for the poll? I didn't take it. Maybe I will in a little bit.
EDIT:
Okay, so after looking at the poll, I see it's short, so I took it.
But before I reveal my results, I'm going to have to viciously complain about this poll...it is horrible. It does not even come close to representing the sheer number of positions on all of these issues, and it also fails to see the fact that issues are not a yes or no proposition most of the time. Very occasionally they are, but even with those that are straight up yes or no, the justification for the positions is just as--perhaps even more so--important than the actual position, because THAT is what really would help align you with a specific candidate. Two candidates could support the same general position for completely different reasons.
And of course nothing is legislated in a black and white method either...it's not as if a law about, say, the legalization of abortion is just going to be "Yes, it's legal" without anything else. Come on, people.
Anyway...
Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel (D) - 96.77% match
Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich (D) - 90.32%
Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards (D) - 70.97%
Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D) - 70.97%
Delaware Senator Joseph Biden (D) - 67.74%
New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D) - 67.74%
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) - 67.74%
Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd (D) - 61.29%
Texas Representative Ron Paul (R) - 45.16%
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) - 35.48%
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R) - 32.26%
Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson (R) - 32.26%
Arizona Senator John McCain (R) - 29.03%
Businessman John Cox (R) - 25.81%
Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (R) - 19.35%
Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo (R) - 16.13%
California Representative Duncan Hunter (R) - 9.68%
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) - 9.68%
