VoteMatch Responses (Click here for VoteMatch quiz)
VoteMatch Question & Answer (Click on question for explanation and background)	Based on these stances: (Click on topic for excerpt & citation)
Strongly Favors topic 1: Abortion is a woman's unrestricted right (+5 points on Social scale)	Individual freedom should apply to abortion decision: Strongly Favors topic 1 Abortion is none of the government’s business: Strongly Favors topic 1 Partial birth abortion ok to protect the mother: Strongly Favors topic 1 Favors abortion rights: Favors topic 1
Strongly Favors topic 2: Legally require hiring women & minorities (-5 points on Economic scale)	America's greatest virtue is diversity: Favors topic 2 Affirmative action counters built-in hiring biases: Strongly Favors topic 2 Reduce minority unemployment by investing in small business: Favors topic 2 Support principles embodied in the Equal Rights Amendment: Favors topic 2
Strongly Favors topic 3: Comfortable with same-sex marriage (+5 points on Social scale)	2004: I wore a bullet-proof vest to argue for civil unions: Strongly Favors topic 3 The Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional: Strongly Favors topic 3 Gays deserve equal rights under the law: Strongly Favors topic 3 Gay rights are a matter of principle: Strongly Favors topic 3 Supported civil unions for same-sex couples: Strongly Favors topic 3
Opposes topic 4: Keep God in the public sphere (+2 points on Social scale)	Churches may provide social services if no discrimination: Favors topic 4 Don’t let Congress dictate definitions of school prayer: Strongly Opposes topic 4
Strongly Favors topic 5: Expand ObamaCare (-5 points on Economic scale)	Public health plan would cut costs as well as improve care: Strongly Favors topic 5 No single payer system, since it won’t pass Congress: Opposes topic 5 Build senior Rx program on Vermont program: Favors topic 5 Subsidize health care for small businesses, not corporations: Favors topic 5 96.4% of Vermonters are covered; deliver that to America: Strongly Favors topic 5 Guarantee health ins. like other industrialized countries: Strongly Favors topic 5 Three-tiered coverage: state, federal, and private: Strongly Favors topic 5 Patient Bill of Rights is hot air: get people insured: Favors topic 5 Full access first, then tackle reform afterwards: Strongly Favors topic 5 Universal access for all Vermonters; insure the last 6%: Strongly Favors topic 5 Keep “community rating”: insure older people at same rates: Favors topic 5 Protect state tobacco settlement funds from federal seizure: Neutral on topic 5
Opposes topic 6: Privatize Social Security (-3 points on Economic scale)	Reverse Bush tax cuts to shore up trust fund-don’t privatize: Strongly Opposes topic 6 Maintain federal Social Services Block Grant funding: Favors topic 6 Maintain long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare: Opposes topic 6
Strongly Opposes topic 7: Vouchers for school choice (-5 points on Economic scale)	Vouchers undermine public education: Strongly Opposes topic 7 No diversion of taxpayer funds to private schools: Strongly Opposes topic 7 Under no circumstances abandon the public schools: Strongly Opposes topic 7 Apply VT’s limited standards for failing schools, not GOP’s: Opposes topic 7 Improve and invest in public schools: Opposes topic 7
Opposes topic 8: Fight EPA regulatory over-reach (+2 points on Social scale)	Deal with scientific reality; environment affects health: Strongly Opposes topic 8 Dean’s first campaign in 1982 focused on bicycle paths: Strongly Opposes topic 8 470,000 conservation acres, but many development deals too: Opposes topic 8 Make trade-offs on environmental protection vs. development: Opposes topic 8 Eliminate mercury releases by 2003: Opposes topic 8 More state autonomy on brownfields & Superfund cleanups: Favors topic 8
Favors topic 9: Stricter punishment reduces crime (-3 points on Social scale)	Death penalty for extreme and heinous crimes: Favors topic 9 Apply death penalty fairly & strengthen protections: Favors topic 9 Opposed capital punishment but shifted beginning in 1994: Favors topic 9 Supports death penalty for terrorism: Favors topic 9 Replace overzealous capital crime trials with fair trials: Opposes topic 9 Re-evaluate and reform federal and state death penalty: Opposes topic 9 Invest in social programs to avoid investing in prisons: Opposes topic 9 Supports flexible federal block grants for crime programs: Neutral on topic 9
Favors topic 10: Absolute right to gun ownership (+2 points on Economic scale)	Different states need different gun laws: Favors topic 10 Background checks for gun shows: Opposes topic 10 Endorsed by NRA eight times as VT governor: Strongly Favors topic 10 Agrees on some issues with NRA, but some gun control: Opposes topic 10 Supports assault weapons ban and Brady bill: Opposes topic 10 Get guns off the national radar screen: no new federal laws: Favors topic 10 No more federal gun laws; leave them to states: Favors topic 10
Strongly Favors topic 11: Higher taxes on the wealthy (-5 points on Economic scale)	“Bush tax”: income tax cuts cause tax rises elsewhere: Strongly Favors topic 11 Repeal every penny of Bush tax cuts & balance budget: Strongly Favors topic 11 Middle class received no benefit from Bush tax cut: Strongly Favors topic 11 Repeal Bush’s tax cuts and invest in social programs: Strongly Favors topic 11 Bush tax cuts were hooey; don’t trust GOP with our money: Favors topic 11 No national sales tax or VAT: Neutral on topic 11
Strongly Favors topic 12: Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens (+5 points on Social scale)	Earned legalization for undocumented immigrants: Favors topic 12 If immigrants work & pay taxes, give them citizenship: Strongly Favors topic 12 Poor treatment of Muslim immigrants is ethnic profiling: Strongly Favors topic 12 Concerned about immigrants dying in desert crossings: Favors topic 12 No automated entry-exit control system; allow free flow: Strongly Favors topic 12 Share costs of legal immigration between states & federal: Neutral on topic 12 Federal government should deal with criminal repatriation: Neutral on topic 12
Favors topic 13: Support & expand free trade (+2 points on Economic scale)	We ought to change NAFTA-globalization only halfway done: Opposes topic 13 We’ve globalized corporations; now globalize worker rights: Favors topic 13 I support NAFTA & WTO-but they need revision: Favors topic 13 Free trade must include environmental standards: Opposes topic 13 Trade tariffs to enforce labor & enviro standards: Opposes topic 13 Free trade is in our long-term national security interest: Strongly Favors topic 13 Free trade must equal fair trade: Opposes topic 13 Develop an open North American energy market: Favors topic 13 Foster globalization with New England & Eastern Canada: Favors topic 13
Opposes topic 14: Support American Exceptionalism (-3 points on Economic scale)	Iraq wasn’t about UN permission-it wasn’t an imminent threat: Opposes topic 14 Iraq: Admit we humiliated our allies and get UN help: Opposes topic 14
Opposes topic 15: Expand the military (+2 points on Social scale)	Realign defense funds away from Star Wars: Strongly Opposes topic 15 Redirect military spending rather than reduce defense budget: Opposes topic 15 Focus Pentagon budget on military personnel’s needs: Strongly Favors topic 15
No opinion on topic 16: Make voter registration easier (0 points on Social scale)	First Democrat to opt out of campaign finance system: Opposes topic 16 Opts out of campaign finance system: Opposes topic 16 Our campaign IS campaign finance reform: Strongly Favors topic 16
Strongly Favors topic 17: Avoid foreign entanglements (+5 points on Social scale)	Day 1: Visit international allies to undo damage: Strongly Favors topic 17 Repair relations with world by ending Bush arrogance: Strongly Favors topic 17 Restore US dignity in eyes of people around the world: Favors topic 17 Intertwine into alliances, to create international stability: Strongly Favors topic 17 Embrace nation-building over isolationism: Strongly Favors topic 17 Afghanistan requires more than military victory: Strongly Favors topic 17 Include states in anti-terrorism planning: Neutral on topic 17
Strongly Favors topic 18: Prioritize green energy (-5 points on Economic scale)	Global warming is most important enviro problem we face: Strongly Favors topic 18 Wind energy reduces global warming & reduces Saudi imports: Strongly Favors topic 18 Help developing countries reduce greenhouse gases: Strongly Favors topic 18 Our energy policy is one of our biggest security threats: Strongly Favors topic 18 No need to poison ourselves in order to have growth: Favors topic 18 Voluntary partnerships reduce greenhouse gases economically: Neutral on topic 18 Kyoto Treaty must include reductions by all countries: Opposes topic 18 Create Regional Emissions Registry for GHG trading: Favors topic 18
Opposes topic 19: Marijuana is a gateway drug (+2 points on Social scale)	Treat drug abuse as a medical problem, not a judicial one: Strongly Opposes topic 19 Evaluate marijuana & legalize for valid medical purposes: Strongly Opposes topic 19 Hammer the dealers; treat the casual users: Strongly Opposes topic 19 More federal funding for all aspects of Drug War: Favors topic 19 Rated C- by VOTE-HEMP, indicating an anti-hemp voting record: Strongly Favors topic 19
Strongly Favors topic 20: Stimulus better than market-led recovery (-5 points on Economic scale)	Raise minimum wage to $7.00: Strongly Favors topic 20 End corporate welfare, close loopholes, pay fair share: Favors topic 20 Plan to increase corporate taxes: Favors topic 20 $100B Initiative to Strengthen America’s Cities: Strongly Favors topic 20 Rescind all of the Bush tax cuts, to balance budget: Favors topic 20 Better off with government services than with a $650 tax cut: Strongly Favors topic 20 Balance budget, even if unpopular: Opposes topic 20 Tell the truth on taxes: can’t afford tax cuts: Favors topic 20 Invest in small businesses & renewable energy: Strongly Favors topic 20 It’s tax cuts OR jobs, healthcare, and education: Strongly Favors topic 20 Supports living wage via subsidies for kids & housing: Strongly Favors topic 20 Stand up to Bush for a balanced budget: Favors topic 20 Repeal Bush’s tax cuts and invest in social programs: Strongly Favors topic 20

Howard Dean is a Hard-Core Liberal
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