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Past presidential candidates
Visit the current American presidential candidate selector

Your ideal theoretical candidate

Who is "Your ideal theoretical candidate"? This candidate adamantly endorses all of your political views. The problem is that they may not exist, unless you write-in your own name on your ballot.

Will my favorite candidate be at 100% if we agree on every selector issue? Not necessarily, for example, we based some of our scores on grades from special interest groups. Your preferred candidate may have received a high but not the highest grade from a special interest group. "Your ideal theoretical candidate" matches the highest score given to any candidate. In other words, your candidate may be more moderate than the special interest groups and opposing candidates on certain issues.

What sort of score should my top candidate have? If your top candidate scores in the 90’s or above, you’ll be delighted; the 80’s, you’ll be very pleased; the 70’s, you’ll be satisfied; the 60’s, you’ll find many points of agreement but some differences too with this candidate's positions. If your top score is in the 50’s, your top candidate is the "lesser of evils". If your top candidate did not get at least 50%, then all we can say is that you have a unique combination of political views.
If your top candidate has a mediocre score, retake the selector, but this time try varying the priority settings below each issue area--set some "high" and some "low". Optionally, you might try taking the selector again, but this time, do not answer those questions on issues for which you have little passion or interest.
Some of the websites we use to research candidate positions:
  • www.concordcoalition.org - The Concord Coalition
  • www.atr.org - Americans for Tax Reform
  • www.ntu.org - National Taxpayers Union
  • www.childrensdefense.org - The Children's Defense Fund
  • www.bipac.org - Business-Industry Political Action Committee
  • www.nra.org - The National Rifle Association
  • www.gunfree.org - The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
  • www.plannedparenthood.org - Planned Parenthood
  • www.nrlc.org - National Right to Life Committee
  • www.lcv.org - League of Conservation Voters
  • www.naacp.org - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
  • www.aclu.org - American Civil Liberties Union
  • www.vote-smart.org - Vote-Smart.org