Be an educated voter!
 

In response to the "What Influences Your Vote" thread I thought I'd throw in my plea for everyone to be an educated voter and read about where each candidate stands on the issues important to you. I've talked to too many people who can't even explain why they're voting for their candidate. (And this applies to both sides.) Knowledge is power! :D

So here are the links to each candidate's campaign issues webpage:

Bush-Cheney campaign

Kerry-Edwards campaign

thanks for posting this thread :) Both these sites are great resources to see each candidate's platforms.

One other thing: I know a lot of people out there who are one-issue voters. They agree with one thing from a candidate (such as their stance on gay marriage or abortion) and use that as their sole reason for their vote. Please research everything, from economics to foreign relations. Abortion and gay marriage are going to be controversial no matter the candidate; foreign policy and economics can differ greatly from candidate to candidate.

Could you suggest a site with a more objective evaluation? Those were just platform statements.

Also, Xylochick, what is the basis of those IQ score results? It seems unlikley that any state with millions of people is going to have an IQ above the norm.

Thats the whole point of averages.

I have already posted statistics on those in the Republican party having higher intelligence and income levels than those that are Democrats - and it's people, not states.

-Rudey

Here's a website with info on candidates for local elections (state senate etc):

http://www.vote-smart.org/

Sometimes its that one issue that makes AAALLL the difference:D

I think the platform statements are an important piece of information, which is why those were the sites I chose. It tells you what the candidate's agenda and goals are. But I'm all for providing as much information as possible, so here are some sites that provide more of a comparison between the two candidates.

Time Magazine - provides a fairly detailed description of both Bush and Kerry's positions on the major issues. Its still largely based on their platform statements, but has some analysis as well.

CNN Issues analysis - one of the better sites I've seen for a "quick" comparison on the issue. Good for those who don't want to read much.

(And before I flamed, I chose CNN's site over the Fox News site because I found CNN's site to be far easier to navigate.)

While not an issue site www.factcheck.org is a great nonpartisan site that analyzes the factual accuracy of candidate ads, speeches, etc.

factcheck.org is the best.

Well, the original article saying that states with higher IQ's voted Democrat was essentially a hoax.

This was the orignal statement showing that Democrat states had higher IQ's:

http://www.sq.4mg.com/IQstates.htm

As you'll note, on the section marked "Update", that data does not appear in the book that the authors of the article said they got it from. So essentially, it was just "made up".

Here's a linke to what I guess is a more accurate measure of average state IQ's. I like it better because my average state IQ comes in at 102 and not 90 as was reported in the original article :D

http://www.sq.4mg.com/IQ-States.htm

I don't know where John Kerry stands on certain issues. Iraq is one of those issues. I even created threads for the Democrats of GC to be able to try and explain his "flip-flopping" and "straddling" but nobody has taken up the challenge.

-Rudey

Rudey,

Sometimes I question whether Kerry even knows where he stands.

He needs to start using notecards or something.