Non-Partisan Sites

I wanted to summarize the sites I've found or had suggested to me (and I'll continue to update if I find more) - and have included them all in the right column of the blog. ------------->

FactCheck.org
This site appears to focus on addressing truth in advertising and published statements. They provide a Summary of the issue, an Analysis section, document their Sources and links to Related Articles. It's an attractive site, with a special video blog called, The Wire, that tries to be "Faster Than the Speed of Spin" and is short and informative.

PolitiFact.com
This site focuses on how true or false statements or attacks are. They have handy gauges that signify True, Partly True/False all the way to "Pants on Fire." ;) They also maintain an analysis called the Flip-O-Meter which analyzes whether a candidate has changed stances, and to what extent. There's also a summary page for each candidate which lists how many items they have under each Truth level so you can see if they tend towards honesty - or not.

OnTheIssues.org
This site provides history based information on where the candidates stand on the issues. Much of their information is obtained from their voting history, which provides them a grade, or rating, on the issues. It also includes public statements on issues, and when they made them. It provides many different ways of viewing this information, and comparing the candidates to each other, and to your views. Be sure to check out the Grid, and VoteMatch. I especially like that they have posed different ways and corollary questions to help you consider your stance on the issues.

GovTrack.us
You can track both current Congresspeople and bills on this site, so it's more for staying current on what your elected representatives are doing, than for comparison to a potential opponent (unless they too have a congressional record). The neat thing is you can set up RSS feeds or email so you get updates as they happen, and I've also set up a widget that shows my current issues and Congressmen's actions on my blog. Useful for me, but you can do the same for your own on your site.

Track and Research Congress

A couple of days ago, I made an entry with links to two Presidential candidates' "Issues" pages. I've since been looking for a place that independently reviews those plans, and the history of how the candidates have acted in the past. While I haven't found that review, I have found something that helps with the latter...

GovTrack.us is a site that allows you to do two main things -- keep abreast of pending legislation and research past legislation. So not only did I find a way to see how every Representative and Senator voted on every bill, but if there is a person or issue you want to keep track of in the future, you can set up Feeds to get that info pushed to you!

Want to look up how McCain/Obama voted on the appalling FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (S. 2248)? Go to the View Votes page and you can see (I'm happy with neither). Though I find that my Representative (Shadegg) voted as I like (this time).

I've also set up Tracked Events to monitor things related to my two Senators and my Rep. I now track changes with an RSS (or Atom) feed (ask me if you want to know more about feeds), and I've put a widget to the right, "Tracked Events in Congress" so you can see my example. I'll find out if it's information overload, or if it's the right amount to make me a more informed citizen. Given time, I think it will help me make more informed decisions - especially when deciding whether to vote for an incumbent!

Craig Ferguson's "If you don't vote you're a moron" Rant

What timing!!! No sooner had I finished the previous post, did I see Craig Ferguson deliver this impassioned, heartfelt plea to all citizens of the US. And he captured so eloquently many of the frustrations that I've had, and have heard from many others.

He touches on our duty to vote, getting news from late-night tv, cutting through the crap, the patriotism of all the candidates, taking individual responsibility, ridiculous news coverage, celebrity opinion and much more. You may not like him, nor agree with him, but the videos are worth a look - if only as fodder for thought (though I think, it's pretty frickin' excellent).

Since he's on pretty late, and you might have missed the episode, take a few minutes to read the excerpted transcript and watch the videos!

The first monologue:

After the break, back at the desk:

Holy Crap! People are reading my blog!

I was (pleasantly) shocked when I saw that I had comments! Thanks so much to my two readers! ^_- I'm famous! I have to admit that I kind of put things up here for myself, not really expecting anyone else to remember to visit.

To briefly continue my thoughts, I've been reading these two sites:

McCain-Palin Issues
(http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/)

Obama-Biden Issues
(http://www.barackobama.com/issues/)

I'm still looking for an independent site that analyzes the issues and both sides' plans and history, so if anyone has one of those, send it along.

I also found this group that apparently does all the fact checking for us - also a very interesting read:

FactCheck.org
(http://factcheck.org/)

They are "a nonpartisan, nonprofit, 'consumer advocate' for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics." I have to believe that there is a slight liberal bias, just because The Media (in general) tends to lean that way, but they seem to do a good job at the "nonpartisan" role. Both sides are checked - though there seems to be more to check on McCain's side (at the moment).

I'm the swing vote

As I've watched the political arena the last few weeks, I've reflected on two thoughts:

• Who are the people who change their minds about the candidates after viewing/reading/seeing/hearing the information presented through the media?
• Holy crap. I'm one of the people that both parties are hoping to influence.

I've long considered myself an independent. Not as a cop-out as I'm often accused -- "Make up your mind!" or, "You just don't want to make a decision." And not so I can avoid having to explain the behaviors of people I align myself over which I have no control. I know Republicans shuddered when they heard about Cheney shooting his hunting buddy, and Democrats cringed when Clinton had his non-sexual relations. (Okay, okay - I am glad that I get to dodge that.)

I consider myself an independent because I find that neither major party has really expressed the values I hold important consistently. I've found I'm more comfortable taking a look at the issues, voting history and how a candidate has shown they make their decisions, and for what they stand -- for each position I feel informed enough to vote.

Which brings me back to my two thoughts. Watching the DNC and RNC I see rabid supporters of both parties (or perhaps just those candidates, those people), the ones that will vote that party. Period. I also find that as an undecided voter, I get very little out of the national conventions. Both parties tend to stand up and give honor to their opponent with the one hand, and try to bash them with the other. I find that I have more appreciation for the party that ends up doing the least bashing, and most genuine honoring. All the other rhetoric seems steeped in emotional ordnance prepared for the group that's fanatical enough to be at the convention - it's not geared to inform and influence an independent with reason.

As I've realized that all those political commercials, approved by those candidates, are really designed to get me to NOT vote for the other guy (or gal), I've also realized that it's hard work and not easy to sift through all the chaff for the real determinants of what a Person, in the Office, will do for the People, and the Country. But it's also something that I realize I really have the responsibility to do.

So I'm doing my best, to watch both sides, and take all the bashing with a grain of salt, to only look at the side show of whose pastor said what, or whose daughter got pregnant to see how the Person running handles it and shows their character. And I certainly hope that these candidates will start talking about what they will do, and how they will do it.