About those side by side comparisons of positions and voting records

[hedgehog]

I think the voting records can separate the far right from the far left, but separating the near right from the near left is harder. Legislation is a product of compromise so two people can agree on a piece of legislation while differing on what they really want.

The comparisons of positions matches the candidates based on what the list maker thinks is important, not on what the candidates think is important. This also limits the usefulness of the debate format in letting you know what a candidate stands for. Imagine a debate featuring Al Gore that focuses on the drug war, for example. How would you ever find out his stand on global warming?

The deciding factor for me is what the candidate thinks is important. A & B may agree on position X, but if A think X is absolutely the most important issue and Candidate B just mentions it when asked, then I'm going with A, not B.