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February 4, 2008Comparison Shopping for Political Candidates - OverviewPolitical candidate matching engines have been around since at least 2000. From a comparison "shopping" perspective, how good are these sites in 2008? Below are ten comparison sites for the '08 U.S. Presidential Election, plus my one-line summary. Results are sorted in order of usefulness, in my opinion. + + + PriceGrabber "CandidateMatch" Perhaps the most compelling presentation of results, which (coincidence?) were also the most in line with my expectations. + + + USA Today "Candidate Match Game" USA Today has the most interesting, interactive interface... plus at the end, you can toggle the weight to give each issue. + + + VA Joe "Candidate Match Game" The format is much too shallow, but the aggregating of results into a "composite candidate" is an interesting idea. + + MN Public Radio "Select A Candidate"
Answers range from binary to potpourri... who decides which topics are black-&-white and which are open to nuance? + + + Glassbooth "Election 2008" Interestingly, you start by distributing your interest to issues, so you only have to answer the most relevant questions. + + + ABC News "Match-o-Matic" ABC takes USAToday's wonderfully transparent tool and wraps it in a black box, from which no insight can escape. + + + Electoral Compass "Election 2008"
The questions did not seem professional, bordering on Springer-like, but the Cartesian summary is cute. + + + GoToQuiz "Pick Your 2008 Candidate" Typical of online quizzes. You get numbers, but no analysis. Post to MySpace. Yay. + + + Washington Post "Choose Your Candidate"
Seriously, you must choose a Democratic edition or a Republican edition? Lame. + + + Select Smart "Presidential Candidate Selector" How can I take this seriously with all the cheesy flashing advertisements? N/A + + + Mainly, I wanted to post this before Super Tuesday, so you can try the tools while there is a selection of candidates. Later, I want to look at this from a comparison engine perspective. It is interesting to see so many non-comparison sites and their different approaches to comparison shopping. You have news sites, quiz sites, .org sites, hobbyist sites... they bring fresh perspectives. I think they also highlight a few comparison techniques that are clearly better than others. More later. For now, have fun. Compare early, compare often! p.s. - if you have tried multiple sites, which one was the most useful?
Comparison Shopping for Political Candidates - Overview
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