From Jim Calder’s blog, I followed the link to Electoral Compass USA and could not help but to go through the exercise of finding out how my positions aligned with those of the US Presidential Candidates.
Although I have not been following the race too closely, I would have said that I supported John Edwards for the most part. I really enjoyed his performance in a debate I watched. I never really picked a Republican to support since frankly, I’d rather see almost any democrat in the White House over another Republican. (With the exception of Arnie, if he were allowed to run. His record on environmental issues as Governor of California might get my vote. I’d have to see his stance on other issues.)
So now that John Edwards has withdrawn, I’m not sure where I stand. There’s things to like and dislike about both Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama.
But hey, I can’t vote in the US so it’s really just food for thought in any case. Here’s my results. Seems that I am closest to Obama. I will admit surprise that this little test show me on the economic left. It seems to me that the Canadian definition of left and right may be somewhat different that the American definition. Try it for yourself.
UPDATE:
In response to a comment, this video explains my statement about why I would rather have any democrat over any republican, not that all republicans are as backward as Tom DeLay.
A nod to ScruffyDan for his analysis of this one.
It would seem that Mr DeLay has never heard of the IPCC, the National Academies of Science from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Caribbean, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, the American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Geological Society of London, the Geological Society of America, the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, NASA, thousands of peer-reviewed journals, and even the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
Either that or he does not consider these people real scientists. You be the judge.
Of course, if he still refused to believe all the above left-wing hippies, perhaps he could try Shell, British Petroleum, or Suncor.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi,
I can’t vote in the US either and don’t understand their politics but am interested in knowing where the candidates stand on environmental issues e.g. preserving or destroying habitat, pollution,etc. as this will affect us and the rest of the world???
Glenn,
I’m curious as to the perspective you used when deciding which candidates you support. What I mean is, are you making your choice while pretending you’re American, or making the choice from the perspective of being a Canadian?
Would your choice for US President change if you changed your nationality perspective? I’m pretty sure my choice would.
The reason I ask, is so often I hear Canadians basing their choices on a lot of factors that don’t affect them in the slightest. For example, I’ve heard Canadians tell me they don’t support a candidates stance on social security, health care, etc. But as a Canadian, should any of those internal items really matter that much?
From my perspective, 90% of my choice would be based around trade issues and how it could affect things like our exports to the US. From a personal perspective, my company exports some products to the US, so I have a personal interest in keeping the goods moving.
Therefore, even if you fall into the same spot on your ‘electoral compass’, it doesn’t necessarily mean that candiate is the best choice for you.
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Interesting proposition. Let me think about this.
In the debate I watched with Clinton, Obama, and Edwards, I would say I was most impressed with Edwards since he seemed to me, to be the most calm and respectful and I like the policy ideas I was hearing on health care, the environment, climate change. I don’t recall his positions on foreign policy, arcane American drug laws or the war in Iraq, but I believe I would remember if he said anything I strongly disagreed with. That said, I may have missed something and also didn’t get to watch the entire debate.
It is true that I am looking at this from a Canadian perspective. I can’t help but doing so. But my concern about US politics stems more from its global implications than merely Canada-US trade. For example:
I am concerned about Canada-US trade. In particular, I am concerned about every instance where trade rules override a sovereign nations’ ability to protect the environment and health of its citizens; I am concerned that Canada has all its eggs in one basket, so to speak and I’d prefer if we had a more diverse mix of trading relationships; and I am concerned that our drive to free trade and globalization effectively eliminates local production serving local markets and puts us at tremendous risk when supply lines are cut or transportation energy becomes too expensive.
Am I affected by the American systems for social security and health care? No, not directly. But indirectly I am since we have a government right now that is open to a more privatized, American style health care system that would open up to US corporations. [I am not suggesting that our corporations are any different than theirs.]
As to my statement of preferring any democrat over any republican, one only needs to watch the video that I attached in the update for an explanation of this one.
–Glenn