RINO or Conservative: Who Scores Best?

1/15/08 | Dwar

[DWar]

If Fred Thompson or Duncan Hunter don't "make it" and it becomes necessary to vote while holding my nose and puking, I tried to devise a rational way to determine which RINO (Republican In Name Only) would make me the least ill. I identified my top issues and prioritized them based on:

• How immediately an issue could impact the nation- Immediate, Urgent, Serious
• The power of an issue’s negative impact on the nation- Devastating, Powerful, Strong and
• Once implemented the likelihood an issue could ever be changed- Unchangeable, Changeable.

It seemed rational that issues like being conquered by illegal immigrants or losing the war, being more immediate, potentially negative and unchangeable, were more critical than even important issues like Gay Rights or Healthcare. Therefore issues that are more immediate, more negative and that were relatively unchangeable were more highly prioritized.

I’ve spent weeks researching and analyzing the candidates’ quotes and votes. I have watched every debate more than once and spent dozens of hours on numerous websites including http://www.ontheissues.org/default.htm, to make some judgments about their level of conservatism.

Taking into consideration the, "If their lips are moving, they're lying" factor, I marked a candidate lower if I thought their stated position was shaded like with Huckabee on Taxes, McCain on Immigration, Romney on Gay Rights or Giuliani on Guns. They were marked down a bit even if their position today sounds rock solid conservative.

Consideration was also given to whom their past constituencies were. They are all politicians and in past statements or votes they sometimes had to speak or vote in a way that is a little less than straight forward than they might have liked. Like every smart husband has to do when his wife asks,”Do these pants make my rear end look fat?” The way he answers depends on who his wife is; Eva Longoria or Rosie O’Donnell.

I included two categories usually not even considered, as the first and second in importance; Stability of Personality and Electability. While excitement, passion and a certain impulsiveness may be desirable in a candidate, stability and deliberativeness are necessary in a president. An unstable personality in a president would be a disaster waiting to happen.

In addition, none of the conservative political agenda has any hope of being followed with Hillary or Obama in the White House. Therefore electablity is not a sacrifice of conservative principle but rather the most important of conservative principles. Winning and getting something, is better than losing and getting nothing. Even Reagan wasn’t “Reagan” (the size of both the government and the budget grew) but it was important for conservatism that he won.

The ranking scale range is:

• Conservative = 10
• Conservative tendencies = 8
• Moderate or Unreliable = 5
• Liberal tendencies = 2
• Liberal = 0

I separated and subtotaled the top 10 and the top 20 from the total to see how the candidates compare on the most important issues as opposed to the total. If a candidate scored in the middle on the total of issues but the highest on the top 10, I might want to support him.

In the interest of full disclosure I have taken multiple candidate preference quizzes. They always come out with my order of preference being Hunter and Thompson numbers 1 & 2 with the others in various positions depending on the quiz. My desire is for the most conservative candidate who is also electable to win the nomination.

This is a work in progress. Adjustments to the matrix are made regularly as other issues come to my attention, issues rise or fall in importance or candidates appear to change positions.

As of now the order of most conservative to most liberal are:

On the top ten issues:

• Thompson- 95/100
• Hunter- 93/100
• Romney-92/100
• Giuliani- 81/100
• Huckabee- 60/100
• McCain- 49/100

On the top twenty issues:

• Hunter- 190/200
• Thompson- 181/200
• Romney- 173/200
• Giuliani- 146/200
• Huckabee- 119/200
• McCain- 117/200

On the totality of issues (33):

• Hunter- 315/330
• Romney- 292/330
• Thompson- 279/330
• Giuliani- 241/330
• Huckabee- 203/330
• McCain- 190/330

Feedback is welcome.

Candidates Side by Side Comparison

Issue	Immediacy	Negativity	Changeability
				Giuliani	Huck	Hunter	McCain	Romney	Thompson
1- Stability of Personality	Imminent	Devastating	Unchangeable	8	8	10	5	10	10
2- Electablity	Imminent	Devastating	Unchangeable	8	5	2	10	8	5
3- Illegal Immigration	Imminent	Devastating	Unchangeable	5	2	10	0	10	10
4- War in Iraq	Imminent	Devastating	Unchangeable	10	10	10	10	10	10
5- War on Terror	Imminent	Devastating	Unchangeable	10	5	10	5	10	10
6- SCOTUS appts	Urgent	Devastating	Unchangeable	10	5	10	2	10	10
7- Guns & 2nd Amend	Urgent	Devastating	Unchangeable	0	10	10	0	5	10
8- Business/infl/rec	Imminent	Powerful	Changeable	10	8	10	5	10	10
9- Lower Taxes	Imminent	Powerful	Changeable	10	2	10	2	10	10
10- Iran	Urgent	Devastating	Changeable	10	5	10	10	10	10
Top 10 Total				81	60	92	49	93	95
11- Pro-Life	Urgent	Devastating	Changeable	0	10	10	10	8	8
12- Healthcare- gov run	Urgent	Devastating	Unchangeable	10	5	10	8	5	10
13- Soc Sec	Urgent	Devastating	Unchangeable	10	10	10	10	10	8
14- Internet Neutrality	Urgent	Devastating	Unchangeable	10	0	10	10	10	10
15- Internet Tax	Urgent	Devastating	Unchangeable	10	0	10	10	10	10
16- Kyoto Treaty	Urgent	Devastating	Changeable	10	8	10	10	10	10
17- Global Warming	Urgent	Devastating	Changeable	0	0	10	0	5	8
18- Energy Indy	Urgent	Powerful	Changeable	8	8	10	5	10	10
19- ANWAR Drilling	Urgent	Powerful	Changeable	5	10	10	0	10	10
20- Globalism & Free Trd	Urgent	Powerful	Changeable	2	8	8	2	2	2
Top 20 Total				146	119	190	117	173	181
21- Military Strength	Urgent	Powerful	Changeable	10	10	10	10	10	10
22- Guantanamo	Urgent	Powerful	Changeable	10	0	10	0	10	10
23- Waterboarding	Urgent	Powerful	Changeable	10	0	10	0	10	10
24- Tax Reform	Urgent	Powerful	Changeable	10	10	10	8	10	8
25- Gay Rights	Serious	Powerful	Unchangeable	0	10	10	5	8	8
26- CFR & 1st Amend	Serious	Powerful	Changeable	0	0	10	0	10	0
27- Crime	Serious	Strong	Changeable	10	5	10	10	10	10
28- Education	Serious	Powerful	Changeable	5	5	5	5	5	5
29- Death Penalty	Serious	Strong	Changeable	10	10	10	10	10	10
30- Tort Reform	Serious	Strong	Changeable	10	8	10	5	10	5
31- School Vouchers	Serious	Strong	Changeable	10	10	10	10	10	10
32- Federalism	Serious	Strong	Changeable	5	8	10	5	8	10
33- Affirmative Action	Serious	Strong	Changeable	5	8	10	5	8	2
All Issues Total				241	203	315	190	292	279
			Conservative= 10
			Conservative tendencies= 8
			Moderate or Unreliable=5
			Liberal tendencies= 2
			Liberal= 0

[DWar]

Exactly right.

Thats why I gave some rationale to why I judged an issue more important than others in columns 2,3 & 4.

[penowa]

"Giuliani's worst SCOTUS appointments would be better than OBAMA' best."

With a Democrat Senate, perhaps one that is fillibuster proof, Giuliani's appointments will be just as liberal as Obama's, or he won't have any.

As to the war in Iraq, I think it will end with Bush's presidency regardless of who is elected, Republican or Democrat. The next president may keep troops there to back up the Iraqis, but that's it, at best, with a Democrat House and Senate. With the numbers the Democrats are likely to have after '08, they will defund the war and not give a concern about being re-elected.

[DWar]

Specifc recomendations are welcome.

[Mr. Brightside]

Of course, Romney’s positions are based on his rhetoric, not his record.

[freekitty]

“I will support who ever is the nominee”

Sorry, have to disagree. Just because this person is the nominee doesn’t necesarily make them the best candidate.

Vote for the candidate you like; who most mirrors your beliefs.

[freekitty]

Remain true to yourself.

[jagusafr]

Gee, I feel kinda bad - I had Hunter and Thompson 1-2 without all that research! But I appreciate the confirmation!!

[Man50D]

If electability isn't an issue, then screw messing around with Hunter.

Electability is the issue!. The problem is many at FR are using the wrong concept to define electable. It should be based on a candidate's consistency of convictions and principles instead of the socialist media driven polls! Unfortunately for some inexplicable reason many Freepers choose to drink the Socialist Kool aid and support someone who tries to appeal to the socialists as well as Conservatives. In the end the GOP ends up becoming more socialistic with each election.

Vote your convictions and write in Reagan.

I prefer to vote for a live Conservative than a dead one.

[svcw]

If HC were on the GOP ticket, I’d be a democrat.

[freekitty]

Couldn’t have said it better.

[jagusafr]

More than exceeds...heehee...that’s a LOT!

[xjcsa]

Wow, you did a lot of work, and it’s interesting to read over.

Like many here, I have a few disagreement with you, but actually not all that many. I would flip the free trade numbers upside down, since I think free trade is inherently conservative and good for us as a country. And I would quibble quite a bit with your “electability” ratings. McCain only gets a ‘10’ there if the only people allowed to vote are the media.

[DWar]

"“8- Business/infl/rec — He supports a hike in minimum wage.. He’s made pro-union votes in the past as well.” This poster has been corrected on his lies several times, but keeps repeating them. Do we really have to put up with the disruption? Really?"

What lies? Where? When?

This was an honest attempt to differentiate between the candidates. I've noted the criticisms of others and will do the research and change the matrix if necessary. But to claim I am a liar and note only one specific issue with which you have a problem is a little over the top, don't you think? I would hope a FReeper would be a stronger proponent of the First Amendment.

BTW:
Since you didn't identify the candidate by name and since Huckabee is the only candidate scoring an 8, I assume you mean I graded him too highly because he has had past support for a higher minimm wage and has been pro union. If you can supply me with more specific information about this I'll be glad to consider it in my updates.

[DWar]

"Your post reads as if you need remedial education in how the legislative process works. FYI: POTUS cannot "repeal" legislation unilaterally. Legally."

Thank you for that, Captain Obvious! ;^}

I think you understood the point I was making, however.

[Designer]

"I'll never vote for anyone who has not grasped the Islamic threat to the West"

And FWIW; I will never again vote for anyone who does not acknowledge the existence of a threat greater than the ragheads. (the next Deplubocrat)

[DWar]

It would be nice if Cutting Government Spending and Balancing the Federal Budget were included in the issues conservatives were evaluated on.

Thanks for the suggestions. I did think of these and in fact began to collect data on them. For some reason they have seemed to faded as concerns to the extent that I couldn't find many candidates who had addressed these issues. Sadly, this may be a reflection of the poor state of conservatism in the nation today. I'll try again.

[Designer]

"This was an honest attempt to differentiate between the SOME candidates."

There, I fixed it.

[DWar]

See Post #120

[DWar]

I have to ask what your rating on Social Security is based on? Everyone gets a 10 except Fred who is the only one with a plan to save social security.

You're exactly right. Originally that issue was titled Soc Sec - Privitization. It was because of Thompson's plan that I changed it to just Soc Sec.

While I had to balance his very conservative idea of creating a plan that would actually save SS he does so in part by raising SS taxes which is an unconservative idea. I am open to rethink his rating on his ssue, however and will do so before I reconfiure the matrix.

Thank you.

[Designer]

"I think you understood the point I was making, however."

Uh..Probably not.

I think your effort at communicating is sincere, but in case you didn't realize, one cannot post subtlety or sarcasm without including explicit instructions on how to understand it.