The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter - Winston Churchill
Well it's that time again. Election time. If you're like me, you're wishing the Supreme Court hadn't struck down the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform act because we're now stuck with a million more commercials than we use to be.
The problem I have with these commercials is:
- They're negative
- They make promises the candidate can't implement without 100's of votes in the state legislature
- Uninformative: i.e. does candidate X support abortion? Yes/No
Because of this, I decided to do my own research (you know, like a good voter should?) and see where the candidates stand on what I like to call "black & white issues. These issues are typically polarizing and seldom, people fall in the middle on them.
I tried to avoid issues like healthcare, education, jobs & cancer (nobody supports cancer, people you're preaching to the choir)...since these issues any candidate with a chance, will say they "support it". The only real difference is how they support it.
| Scott Walker | Tom Barrett | |
|---|---|---|
| Abortion | Opposes [1] | Supports [1] [2] [3] |
| Assisted Suicide | Unknown | Semi-Supports [1] |
| Death Penalty | Supports [1] | Opposes [1] |
| Freedom Of Speech | Semi-Opposes [1] | Supports [1] |
| Gay Marriage | Opposes [1] | Semi-Supports [1] |
| Going Green | Semi-Supports [1] | Supports [1] [2] |
| Gun Control | Opposes [1] [2] | Semi-Supports [1] [2] |
| Immigrant Rights | Opposes [1] | Semi-Supports [1] |
| Medical Marijuana | Opposes [1] | Supports [1] |
| Separation Of Church & State | Unknown | Supports [1] [2] |
Results
The results weren't too surprising with both candidates, for the most part, sticking with their party lines.