Jim Was Quizzical

30/10/2008

This morning Vinnie Politan, a talk show host on Sirius radio’s Independent Channel, took a weighted quiz regarding the two presidential candidates. When the test was over he filled out his absentee ballot — basing who he was voting on solely on the results of the quiz — and mailed it out.

Each issue (on the quiz) was graded on a scale of 0-5. Then each issue was rated in importance from 0-5. The two numbers for each issue were multiplied together to arrive a weighted score, and then all the results were added together.

The issues were:

  • Economy
  • Taxes
  • Commander-in-Chief
  • Vice President
  • Healthcare
  • Energy
  • Supreme Court
  • Immigration
  • Intelligence
  • Independence
  • Leadership

Vinnie, an attorney, was a prosecuter and a litigator before turning his sites to talking on the radio for a living. He is more level-headed and, well, independent than the people he interacts with on his radio show. (His cronies are wildly liberal.)

His scores surprised him: McCain 131, Obama 129.

Vinnie filled out his ballot, sealed it up, and mailed it in.

I took the same quiz. I was only surprised because it didn’t come out dead even*. My results: McCain 129, Obama 131. I didn’t have an absentee ballot to fill out. Too bad for Obama, I s’pose.

*If I’d given Palin a single point (which I almost did), the score would’ve come across as even, 131 to 131.

There is 1 comment in this article:

  1. 1/11/2008ruminator say:

    I had to vote McCain/Palin. But, it isn’t so much that I prefer their platform; The Obama/Biden pair is just too far to the left for me.

    Sometimes one votes against something and not for something. That’s a perfectly good reason to vote.

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