Vote!

The link that I have chosen to add to our class blog is not a funny you-tube link, rather a tool that could be very useful come November of next year. With elections coming up and candidates campaigning hard, it’s hard to find the candidate that best suits your beliefs. Recently in my political science class, we conducted a public opinion poll that found that most people are unsure of who will receive their vote, and many are uneducated about major issues at hand.
My link is a political quiz that matches you up with a candidate after a few questions. This quiz should not be used to reveal which candidate you should vote for, rather give you numerous candidates that you should research.
This researching material can be found right on the site. By clicking on a candidate or an issue, you can see their views on the issue as well as how they have acted regarding the issue in real life (senate, house of representatives). It also gives you background research on the candidate.
Even if you don’t chose to use this link, I encourage everyone to find some way to research all candidates and not simply vote for who our parents are voting for or who your friends are voting for. Similar quizzes and databases exist where voters can learn about candidates, but caution is always necessary.
The Internet is a great tool most of the time, but often times faulty information is out there, especially rumors or made-up statements about presidential hopefuls. Voters should make sure the site they are viewing is legitimate. A good way to determine legitimacy is by looking at the URL. If it ends in .edu or .gov, then it is probably a reliable site. Also, many people create Facebook pages and MySpace pages that are definitely not run by the presidential candidates.
Even though it may seem early to some people, primaries are coming up and it would be better if the voting population was educated on issues affecting the U.S. right now and not simply voting based on political party or peer pressure. So I encourage people to research on their own so they are not influenced so much by the opinions of others.
I am still trying to look into each candidates platforms and feel like I’m making a bit of a dent, but I’ve realized that the Internet can’t be my only form of research. Interviews on television whether they are on news shows or the late show are excellent ways, and I feel the best way to get to know candidates. I guess this all comes back to my belief that the Internet isn’t real life and that you can tell more about a person from a 5 minute interview than you can from reading 5 pages about them.

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http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460