In order to do any sort of quality analysis we would need to specify some units. Even if we could come up with units (and for conservatives they would definitely be English units rather than the commie metric ones), how would you place different opinions along the axis? Is keeping Soc Sec the way it is because promises were made and need to be kept, more or less conservative than scrapping Soc Sec which is viewed by lots of conservatives as an unconstitutional expansion of federal power?
And that doesn't even take into consideration whether we would need to assume homoscedasticity.
Strictly speaking, yes, you'd not only have to handle heteroskedacity, but possibly multiple axis and different weightings -- so you'd be closer to ANOVA.
But all I was trying to do was point out an analogy (and in an odd way, your posting is a good segue into Part II, which is not at *all* what the posters here seem to be expecting); if you want to come up with a formal political placement methodology, go apply to a statistics or a Poly-Sci dept. somewhere and offer to make it your graduate thesis :-)
If you're not too busy with Hamlet, that is?
Whether 'tis nobler in the 'net to suffer the slings and arrows
of outrageous forum trolls,
and by opposing, end them? To ZOT! To FReep no more...
Cheers! Cheers!