The New York Times has an online quiz where it asks you how you stand on certain issues. It then tells you who your ideal candidate would be, picking from among those still in the Democratic race. It matched me with Pete Buttigieg and said that I had the least in common with Bernie Sanders. I think my views aren't as far from Bernie's as that.
But you see, here's the problem with a quiz like this. I have to answer each question Yes or No and I don't think either choice correctly describes my position on most of these questions. For instance…
- Is it important that your candidate makes it a priority to work with Republicans? My answer isn't Yes or No. It's more like, "Well, that would depend a lot on how many seats the Democrats wind up with in the House and Senate. To get anything done, my candidate may have to."
- Do you view President Trump's election as an anomaly? My answer isn't Yes or No. It's more like, "I'm not surprised that a lot of Americans wanted what he was offering. I think it's an anomaly that so many people became convinced he was presidential material and could or would deliver on those promises."
- Do you want a candidate who doesn't pursue money from big donors? My answer isn't Yes or No. I think there are big donors and there are big donors. There are some who don't expect legislation that benefits them financially. The point is that the government should not be bribable…and that's a real word, no matter what my spell checker is telling me.
- Do you want a nominee who would make history based on race, gender, sexual orientation or religion? My answer isn't Yes or No. I want a nominee who can beat Donald Trump and is equipped to be a very good president. If that person is the first gay president or female president or Jewish president, fine. I just wouldn't put that high on my list and certainly not above getting the best possible administrator.
- Do you want to replace the private health care system with a universal, government-run health insurance system? My answer isn't Yes or No. I want everyone in this country to have access to highly affordable quality health care. I really don't know if we have to replace the existing system to arrive at that or whether something like a public option alongside the private system will do it.
- Do you think four-year public colleges and universities should be tuition-free for everyone? My answer isn't Yes or No. I think college should be highly affordable and people should be able to get it without going into serious debt. That might mean tuition-free or almost free for some. When I went to college, I paid tuition but it was within my means. If I hadn't had an income then, it was well within my family's means…and we were far from wealthy. We need to bring the costs down to that level. But the question suggests a binary choice: Make it free or leave the costs the way they are.
And so on. As you can see, a Yes/No answer doesn't convey my opinion. Also, the quiz seems to weigh all these issues equally. I care a lot more about some of them than others…and so will you if you take it. I might care the most about some issue that's not on there at all…like, say, Climate Change, Immigration or preventing World War III.
I just got my first notice about the primary here in California, which is March 3. They sent me a list of polling places but I'll probably vote by mail, which means I have about three weeks to decide. I really don't know who I'm going to vote for. I don't even know if the question I'm answering is "Which of these people would be the best president?" or "Which of these people would be the best candidate?"
I haven't even ruled out Mike Bloomberg. This article makes an interesting case that he ranks high as answers to both of those questions. Oddly enough, as I was reading that article earlier today, I received two identical text messages from someone I've never heard of who said his name is Joe…
MARK, This is Joe from Mike Bloomberg 2020 asking for your support. Txt 1 for YES, 2 for more info, 3 for NO and 4 to Stop.
And then it gives me a link to Bloomberg's website. I texted 4 and then blocked that number. I dislike people coming to my door uninvited trying to sell me things and I'm not much fonder of them doing it on my iPhone. I would love to know how they got my name and number. I'm not ruling out Bloomberg because of this but I wish he hadn't done this.