Politics & Government

Online Tool Matches Voters With Candidate

This online free quiz scrutinizes your stance on issues then compares them to politician's responses.

The selection of as Republican candidate Mitt Romney's running mate has brought the presidential race back on the front burner in California.

Based on the , there are a wide variety of issues that concern Menlo Park residents.

But do you really know which presidential candidate best matches your stance on policy issues?

Find out what's happening in Menlo Park-Athertonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A new website launched earlier this year to help voters match up with their ideal candidate, and it's quickly gaining popularity through social media channels. In fact, according to iSideWith.com's homepage, more than a million people have taken the free quiz to determine their ideal candidate since it launched in March.

The quiz covers everything from social issues to foreign policy and answers can be fine tuned: You can choose general or more detailed responses, and a scale allows you to set the level of importance for each issue. Your responses are then analyzed to determine your ideal candidate, complete with a breakdown of your response matches.

Find out what's happening in Menlo Park-Athertonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The people who took the quiz in California matched President Barack Obama's 55 percent of the time — more than any other candidate. Californians' views matched Green Party candidate Jill Stein 48 percent of the time and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson's positions 47 percent of the time. GOP candidate Ron Paul came in with 38 percent of Californians matching his positions.

And what about Romney? Just 32 percent of Californians who took the quiz said they sided with Romney, but did not specify any key issues.

It seems to be a pretty handy tool, but does it work? You tell us. Take the free quiz on iSideWith.com and let us know what you think. Is the candidate it matched with you the candidate you plan to vote for?

 


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