2009.11.01
Radmacher: Candidates duck Project Vote Smart's questions
Project Vote Smart tries to educate Virginia voters
By Dan Radmacher
Radmacher is editorial page editor for The Roanoke Times.
The overwhelming majority of candidates on Tuesday's ballot have already failed voters. Given an opportunity to tell citizens of Virginia where they stand on the gamut of issues, most candidates declined.
Only four candidates for delegate or statewide office in area elections passed Project Vote Smart's political courage test.
Those candidates were Del. Onzlee Ware and his challenger in the race for the 11th District, Troy Bird; Carter Turner, who is running against Del. Morgan Griffith in the 8th District; and Will Smith, a Constitution Party candidate running in the 19th District.
Project Vote Smart's test of political courage is simple: It offers candidates the opportunity to fill out a very broad survey of where they stand on the issues. Those who take the test pass. Those who refuse fail.
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I've been to the web site before, and thanks for the reminder. The "courage test" is actually pretty good when candidates answer, as some provide some great information not only in answering each question, but as qualifiers or additional information to some of the questions.
With so many advocacy groups out there, each with their own questionnaire, I wonder if the lack or replies is just a matter of time and too many questionnaires.
I read through some of the answers of those that provided, and they are interesting.
Comment by Ed S. — November 1, 2009 @ 12:44 pm
Carter Turner had the courage to fill out the form. So did Onzlee Ware. Congratulations to both. In reviewing the answers...each has somewhat similar views on Guns and Gun Control. The NRA gave Ware an A and Turner a D-. Here's the big question, is the fix in with Morgan Griffith and the NRA in the 8th District?
Carter had the nerve to fill out the form. Griffith didn't. Carter owns a gun, has a truck and his own hunting dog. How can that equal a D-? Something is fishy in the NRA's dealings in the 8th District and it would be worth someone questioning how the NRA came up with the grading scale.
It's certainly a "strange curve"...
Comment by BC Bryan — November 1, 2009 @ 5:31 pm
Those are great points BC Bryan, but I would point out that Turner's views are more than just similar to Ware's, they are identical. I have always been very suspicious of Turner's NRA rating; this information just further demonstrates that the NRA is a partisan organization that had no intention of supporting a democrat--even if he is a gun owner.
Comment by Paul T — November 1, 2009 @ 6:40 pm
I'm not sure of the exact method that NRA uses to "grade" candidates. I believe it is closely held.
However, I'm sure it doesn't grade based solely on the 5-6 questions posed in the Project Vote Smart poll. And the answers to those questions would not indicate "identical" beliefs between two candidates.
NRA uses both polling and voting record in their grading. I believe, all being equal, they will favor past voting record over straight poll answers. But that's just my observation. I've also seen endorsements of Democrats. I believe they have even endorsed Rick Boucher in the past (as one example; but I can't recall for certain).
Regardless, it's one organization's opinion and I wouldn't recommend voting based on any one opinion.
Comment by Ed S. — November 1, 2009 @ 8:48 pm
The only opinion that matters inside the polling booth is one's own.
Comment by NRV Citizen — November 1, 2009 @ 9:33 pm
Thanks for this piece, Dan.
Comment by Hank Bostwick — November 2, 2009 @ 9:09 am