Do I need to send back my membership card? Is everything on the internet true?

I am uncomfortable... Seriously uncomfortable.

I became a Republican when I could first vote - the presidential election of 1992. I grew up watching Ronald Reagan on TV and seeing the rather uninspiring candidates the Democrats offered up. I was young and wanted to grow up and study business and make money and keep it (and those darned Democrats wanted to take it away). I was too young to worry about education, too young to understand the complexities of issues like abortion, and had never been a citizen during a war. George Bush 'the first' seemed like a solid guy... and he said 'read my lips, no new taxes' (even if he did have to go back on that 1988 campaign promise). I did not yet have a job, or a retirement account, so the recession the US was in wasn't impacting me.

As I have gotten older I have educated myself (and been educated by my wife and friends) on a broader set of issues, and learned about them with a little more depth. I am by no means a policy wonk, and I can't say that I really know the details of what every policy would cost, the implications and ramifications domestic and abroad... I just have my opinion, like 250 million other Americans.

I have taken 3 of these on-line 'candidate selector' quizzes this evening. This is after surfing the web for a while to try to figure out exactly what the difference is between 'marriage' and 'civil union' and 'domestic partnership'. This is also after reading up on candidates positions on universal health care, plans for exiting Iraq, and what the hell do we do with the whack-o running Iran?

What came back in these quizzes surprised me a little, didn't surprise my wife one bit, and has me wondering if I am required by some internet quiz law to return my RNC Membership card.

I have long held that I am socially liberal, and fiscally conservative. When my wife says I am really a Democrat in denial, I correct her and explain that I am a moderate Republican. One friend back in Oregon told me after I explained this odd amalgamation of beliefs that I was a Libertarian and that he was one as well, and that I could start attending some meetings with him. I politely (at least I thought it was polite, since I tried to make it a joke) explained to him that I liked winning too much to be a Libertarian.

So, I took these 3 on-line quizzes. Here were the results in the order I took them...

Quiz #1
1) John McCain - a moderate republican, so I was OK with this, but don't think he'll get the Republican nomination, despite being the most qualified GOP candidate - in my opinion
Here's where it got interesting...
Tied at #2 and #3 were Obama and Hillary Clinton

I just don't like Hillary... I can't put my finger on it... but I don't like her. I don't think it's the woman thing... I was raised by a strong woman who was a single mom... I married a strong woman... I would have been every bit as likely to vote for Elizabeth Dole as Bob Dole... I just don't know what it is about this woman.

Obama I kind of like, but mostly 'cause he's fresh and engergetic, and new, and because he's not Hillary... Oh yeah, and 'cause of Oprah (just kidding).

The next one I took looked like this:
1) Bill Richardson - moderate Democrat... This threw me a little - the life long (as long as I could vote) Republican was a little shaken, but...
2) At #2 was Rudy... a Republican that was pro-life... this might be my guy... but he's a proponent of staying in Iraq... below I have a summary of my personal positions on issues... Iraq is one place we don't align well.
3) Damn it, Hillary again!

So I took this one again... I eliminated any 'neutral' answers, forcing myself to agree to some extent or disagree to some extent on the issues... she moved up to #2... so I did what any rational person would do... left that quiz and went onto another one... hoping she would go away.

Quiz #3:
1) Chris Dodd... someone I honestly had barely heard of... On the Democratic side, I had only paid attention to Obama, Clinton and Edwards.
2) Damn you Hillary... you are like that bad Chinese Mexican food - you just won't go away!
3) John Edwards

So here I am... I went from Quiz #1 - a Republican at #1 with 2 Democrats behind, to Quiz #2 with a Democrat at #1, but a Republican at number 2 (and another Democrat at #3), to the last Quiz, which had all top 3 candidates Democrats, as well as Hillary moving up to be alone in second place...

I chickened out and refused to take anymore quizzes... Had I taken another quiz, I am convinced I would have seen Hillary's name at the top of my list... which means I would head to bed feeling miserable... and my wife would never let me forget it.

I went ahead and listed the basic positions I have that lead to these results... Only read on if you are a political junkie like me, or you are extremely bored!

Cheers,
Joe

Here are the areas where I align with traditionally conservative and traditionally liberal positions - some of you will disagree somewhat or greatly with these positions - here's hoping it doesn't ruin friendships (or marriages). :)

Conservative Positions:

• I still want to keep my money, which means lower taxes
• I think illegal aliens, by definition are not here legally and should be sent home - there are legal ways to come to the US, please use them
• If there is no better way to stop the passage of illegal aliens and drugs into the US from Mexico, build the wall
• Smaller government is better than bigger government, let States decide on as many issues as possible
• Social Security as it exists today is a ticking time bomb... Allow for a portion of the money in my account to be directed to the stock market, which over any 10 year period has never returned less than 8% (past performance is no indication of future results, blah, blah, blah... I'll take my chances)
• I just can't see how we can afford universal health care... See bullet #1 where I want to keep my money... Cover ALL children. Cover them until they turn 18, or 21. But universal is hard to pay for. Incentivize businesses to provide coverage and partially fund coverage.
• The second amendment - right to keep and bear arms. I do believe that this was meant in the context of a well armed militia, but it has been interpreted to mean any Tom, Dick or Harriet who wants to own a gun, should be able to... I am OK with this, and own a number of firearms myself. I imagine every framer of the constitution owned a firearm, regardless of their plans of being in the military of the time... I think this is a constitutional right that should be protected. However, if you look at my liberal positions below, you'll see I break with conservatives slightly.
  

Liberal Positions:

• I can't tell a woman what she can and can't do with her body. Personally, I hope that my family never has to make a decision about terminating a pregnancy... And if we did, I pray we are strong enough to carry any baby to term and love that child regardless of the circumstances... but until I am faced with that situation, I can not honestly say what I would advocate. I feel like Roe vs. Wade is a decent compromise - until the fetus is viable outside the womb (as defined at the time) a woman is free to choose what she does with her body.
• Marriage, Civil Unions, Domestic Parterships... What do I care? If two people of the same sex want to get married and get the same benefits that I do as a heterosexual married couple, great. It is not for me to define who is allowed to love who, and if two people love each other, then let them get married... and let them deal with each other's families, and let them deal with each other and all the challenges and all the greatness that comes with that. I can't get behind the religious right who says that the bible forbids homosexual relationships... the bible also says you can sell your daughter into slavery... we don't do that... it also says wives should be subserviant to their husbands.... OK, maybe that one is a good one... I'll have to talk with Steph about it... Anyhow, I do believe the bible is the word of God... I also believe that God was not necessarily being literal in every passage in the bible... there are parts of the bible that are allegorical.
  
• Stem cell research should be federally funded... even if the 'life begins at embryo' belief were one that I held, as I understand the data, the majority of the research is done on embryos that would be discarded otherwise... so we can throw them in the trash can, but we can't learn how to eradicate diseases with them? This makes no sense to me.
• Gun Control - by all means the 2nd amendment should be protected, but I can't be a strict constitutionalist on this topic. Guns are OK with limits. Background checks should be OK. Bans or regulation on assault weapons should be OK. The unchecked ability for people to procure whatever harbinger of death they choose seems silly to me... can't we agree on some middle ground? Can't we agree that automatic assault weapons are a reasonable place to draw the line? Evidently not.
• Iraq - get out. Be more diplomatic. Fire whoever told you there were WMDs. If they didn't tell you that and you manufactured it, shame on you. I can't agree with setting a specific deadline - I have to agree that telling the enemy the day you are leaving is not good strategy (philosophically, since I have no military experience whatsoever)... but put a phased plan in place with our allies and get out... if they can't run the country themselves in 6 months, with all the damned oil money they have... what makes us think they will be able to do so in 12 months? 24? 36?