The Washington Post has devised a quiz to see who you most agree with regarding policy positions amongst the Democratic candidates. I took it, and so did my friend Max. (Max is a fictional composite of real people I know who first appears in Election 2016: The Great Divide, The Great Debate.)
Max and I debated the issues (in 2016), and policy positions, of the candidates in that book. Our debate is ongoing. But today, in Election 2020, the WaPo has made it easy with this questionnaire. Max and I still disagree, but he was somewhat surprised with his results; whilst I was not, with mine and his. Below is a screen shot of my result.
Who do you love
There are twenty questions that represent the candidates’ positions’ on salient issues. According to their websites. Of course with politicians positions can be fluid. (Depending on which way the wind is blowing, or, the latest poll. Or, the last person they listened to.)
That said, the results for me were predictable. Biden, Bloomberg, and Yang can be classified as moderate, Republican, and Independent, or closer to Trump. And at the far end are Sanders and Warren–the “progressives”.
However, with my friend Max, not so much. He has been an ardent Sanders supporter and dislikes Warren. He told me:
I took the quiz, and much to my chagrin I ended up with Warren…with Bernie right behind. I’m not sure the WaPo differentiated between the two of them very well, however. For example, my answer for healthcare said that I was in agreement with both Bernie and Warren…but it’s very clear that Bernie will fight tooth-and-nail for M4A, and Warren, well…won’t. Then I have a three-way tie for third- Yang, Buttigieg and Steyer. Not sure how I got the latter two, but I like Yang well enough.
Which speaks to a couple things worth thinking about. (That is if you’re inclined to thinking about things.)
- Self-reporting is biased toward one’s Self.( i.e. not objective)
Questionnaires are biased toward the questions (leading) and questionnaire (person doing the asking’s knowledge). In other words not objective, but subjective to variables and factors outside of anyone’s comprehension.
Who do you love?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms6sf0XfQNc
Where are the dancers?
And but so – there have been some things worth paying attention to: Like the NYT’s endorsement of two candidates (female) … or “May the best woman win.” Seriously?