Select A Candidate returns
The first module in MPR's popular Select A Candidate application has just been released. The contest for president is the subject of this one and 18 candidates -- the most ever -- are included. I haven't added Fred Thompson yet, however. And there's a few more issues I need to toss in there -- education, for one.
There are some positions I haven't been able to find for some candidates. Ethanol, in particular, is hard to pin candidates down on, which is surprising since Iowa is a make-it-or-break-it state for some candidates. And line-item-veto is another.
In putting these together, I can tell you there's no other place -- at least on the Internet -- for getting a comparison of candidate positions in one spot. There's a few that have tried but -- and this is a reflection on the candidates -- answers -- specific answers -- are hard to come by, which is why there's so much gibberish involved. A look at ontheissues.org is a good example.
There are some sites that have tried. CNN, the New York Times are the two best I've found so far for side-by-side comparisons. But, there's little out there in the way of allowing some interactive component with the voter and, I guess, that's why Select A Candidate has been so popular.
One change from previous years. In the past, the final page has provided links to specific candidate pages with abundant amounts of information on those pages. We haven't put those together this year and I'm not entirely sure we're going to. For one thing, in the age of Google, is it really that hard learning more about a candidate once you know his/her name?
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.