Glassbooth and voting
I was talking with my father tonight and he told me he had checked out Glassbooth. I was curious to hear his thoughts.
He told me he liked the design, the intuitive feel, the fact that it was easy and informative.
“So who did you get?” I boldly inquired.
“I got Bill Richardson as my first,” he said.
ME: So would you consider voting for Richardson or looking into him more closely now?
HIM: No.
ME: Why?
HIM: Well, I mean he has no shot.
ME: So?
HIM: Well what about electability and character?
ME: I hear you, but you and Bill Richardson have a lot in common, and I think that you must at very least give him some further consideration.
HIM: Well Hillary was also up there pretty high and she is a frontrunner.
ME: But…I mean…I think you are missing my….whatever.
When we created Glassbooth, we created a meritocracy for political ideas. Unlike the mass media, every candidate’s platform would be able to compete with the others on a fair playing field. Users could then enter their own beliefs and desirable positions of candidates and find out who they most closely align with and why, regardless of their polling numbers.
Some people email me, telling me the website is not completely accurate because they know they want to vote for Candidate X but their Glassbooth results tell them they align with Candidate Y. And that’s part of the point. While we understand there is more to making a political decision than an issue-by-issue analysis of a platform - we believe that gaining a deep understanding of where a candidate stands is novel in today’s democracy.
All we want to do at Glassbooth is allow a window into where the candidates really stand. Only you can decide who is right for you to vote for…we just ask you be informed.
The meritocracy of the site is exactly what makes it so great. Unfortunately, you are exactly right when you say a “deep understanding of where a candidate stands is novel in today’s democracy” and it really is a shame. I think it might have been novel in any democratic election in history, but that does not detract from the value of your effort.
I also got Richardson, and, at first, felt like your dad. But now I realize that it is my obligation as a citizen to look more closely at him (and other candidates) and make sure I make the best decision possible
Thanks a lot.
The quiz is very introspectively informative. Like your dad, I would like you to include some form of electability question in the mix.
I am probably a little older than your father, but I still have an intellectual curiosity about a seriously broken political process. Thanks for contributing to an enlightened discussion.
If you have a minute, please check out my blog.
well i have a slightly different take on the whole gay marriage question … i frankly feel that if you want a piece of paper then fine get married gay straight or bi … however … i strongly feel that all of the legal perks that come with that piece of paper should be completely seperated from that piece of paper and offered to society as a whole … the inequality of married versus not needs to be the thing that is abolished … if i want my best friend to be able to make health choices for me or be granted automatic parental status of my child upon my death or i want to file a joint tax return with the room-mate i have had for the last two years etc. etc. and the list goes on … i am not allowed to do that because of the simple fact that i have not married my best friend or room-mate … this is an inequity that i find atrocious … if these rights were granted to all people gay or straight married or not as they should be than i have a strong feeling that the debate over gay marriage would evaporate with the exception of the few radical fanatics that never let go of any issue … and so i have stated my case … maybe someday someone will read it and take my words to heart then find their way into office and effect the first positive change in human rights since the south was forced to truly integrate and roe vs. wade came down with a decision on the side of sanity … with respect … sharon
Great quiz–ought to be mandatory! This is the way to break through the media BS, especially Fox Noise! How many people were surprised at their closest matches?!
The problem over the past six years has been getting people (meaning my Republican friends–how are we friends if we believe so differently?) to stop and really evaluate the issues. When I parse the facts, almost all agree with my decidedly so-called left leaning viewpoint. They have allowed themselves to be sold a product, without considering the puffery. Apparently they are also too lazy to be aware of the facts, which these days takes a lot of digging through multiple sources to establish.
I’m e-mailing this quiz to everyone I know. The ones who don’t use e-mail, but still vote, will get my personal attention to take the quiz. It ought to start some interesting conversations.