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Party
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DNC Platform
(Democratic Party)
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RNC Platform
(Republican Party)
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GP Platform
(Green Party)
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LP Platform
(Libertarian Party)
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NLP Platform
(Natural Law Party)
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LeaderMatch
(Under construction)
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George Bush Sr.
(President, 1989-1993)
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Jimmy Carter
(President, 1977-1981)
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Noam Chomsky
(Liberal Activist)
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Bill Clinton
(President, 1993-2001)
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Gerald Ford
(President, 1974-77)
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Newt Gingrich
(Speaker of the House, 1994-1998)
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Denny Hastert
(Speaker of the House)
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Rev.Jesse Jackson
(Democratic Spokesman)
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Rush Limbaugh
(Conservative talk-show host)
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Richard Nixon
(President, 1969-1974)
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Ross Perot
(Reform Party founder)
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Ronald Reagan
(President, 1981-1989)
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Donald Trump
(Real estate magnate)
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SenateMatch |
(AZ,R)
McCain
(CA,D) Boxer
(FL,R) Rubio
Other
Senators
(2016 races)
Challengers
in 2016 races
House of Representatives (113th Congress, 2013-2014)
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Question |
Answer |
VoteMatch results
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Below are the summary results of our VoteMatch 20-question political quiz,
with analysis of the responses in terms of Donald Trump's & Joe Biden's stances from
the 2020 elections. This data summarizes about 1,580 VoteMatch quiz responses. Click on the links below for excerpts
on each topic, or click for a summary of
Joe Biden's VoteMatch answers and
Donald Trump's VoteMatch answers, with headlines evidencing how we concluded
their answer to each question. Click on the "analysis" link to see background
and details about the question.
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Abortion is a Woman's Unrestricted Right |
Strongly Support
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Support
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No Opinion
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Oppose
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Strongly Oppose
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Analysis: 51%
agree with Biden's pro-choice
stance, and only 36% with
Trump’s pro-life stance. This issue has the fewest people answering "no
opinion" of any VoteMatch issue (only 13%), which reflects the fact that it is
overwhelmingly the issue with the most voter interest (as indicated by our
viewership statistics consistently since 1999). Since 2012, the response set has become more polarized (both "strong" answers increased in percentage)
and more shifted towards "support". Accordingly, we "strengthened" the question text by adding the term "unrestricted" -- which reduced the number of "support" answers from 65% in 2012 to 51% in 2016. Click for all candidates' headlines on
abortion or for background
information.
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Legally require hiring women & minorities |
Strongly Support
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Support
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No Opinion
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Oppose
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Strongly Oppose
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Analysis: Biden
supports
Affirmative Action on the basis of past discrimination; Trump opposes
DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). Note that
our question specifies REQUIREMENT: 50% support that, and 30% oppose. We added the term "LEGALLY" to attempt to skew more towards "oppose" (our goal is 50/50 support/oppose). Without the term "LEGALLY", 39% supported (the largest shift for
any question which had identical wording previously). Click for all candidates'
headlines on Jobs or for
background information.
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Comfortable with same-sex marriage |
Strongly Support
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Support
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No Opinion
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Oppose
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Strongly Oppose
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Analysis: Joe Biden has
evolved over time to become "comfortable" with same-sex marriage (strong support now; opposed in the 1990s);
Donald Trump has consistently supported gay rights, but does not support transgender rights. The "strongly support" bar has the highest response of any
quiz question (35% strongly support; that bar has grown recently) -- indicating that America has "evolved" on same-sex marriage along with Biden. We strengthened the wording
(to include "benefits" instead of just "rights") then we strengthened it further (to include "marriage" instead of just "benefits"). Despite those strengthened wordings, the "strongly support" ratio rose each election cycle.
Click for all candidates' headlines on
Families & Children or for
background information.
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Keep God in the public sphere |
Strongly Support
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Support
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No Opinion
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Oppose
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Strongly Oppose
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Analysis: 51% support (agreeing with Republicans); 28% oppose (agreeing with Democrats): It's
difficult to decode Biden's stances on religious issues, because he doesn't address the issue much.
Trump is less personally religious than Biden, but accepts the support of the "religious right".
Under this topic, Trump mostly talks about issues of
"political incorrectness" like saying "Merry Xmas". Biden instead focuses on |
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Fight EPA regulatory over-reach |
Strongly Support
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Support
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No Opinion
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Oppose
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Strongly Oppose
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Analysis: This is a new question since the 2016 election cycle.
Donald Trump's desire to reduce regulations is backed up by 53% of viewers. Joe Biden's
desire to protect the environment via federal action is backed by 27% of viewers
Click for all candidates' headlines on Environment
or for background information.
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Make voter registration easier |
Strongly Support
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Support
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No Opinion
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Oppose
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Strongly Oppose
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Analysis: 50%
favor, and only 26% oppose, voting reform. This indicates a public reaction against "voter suppression" and gerrymandering, and perhaps for campaign finance reform.
(We refocused this question away from "Campaign Finance Reform" since the Citizens United Supreme Court decision
which removed many restrictions on campaign spending.) Viewers' responses favors Biden's
stance for more open voting compared to Trump’s
stance for more "voter security". Click for all candidates' headlines on
Voting Reform, or for
background information.
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Stricter punishment reduces crime |
Strongly Support
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Support
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No Opinion
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Oppose
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Strongly Oppose
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Analysis: Trump
supports mandatory sentencing, which matches voter preference: 52% to 29%
opposed. Biden prefers
prevention and rehabilitation Support for mandatory sentencing, the death penalty, and "Three Strikes" (our previous question wordings) have increased over the last decade. The "Black Lives Matter" movement, which arose in the 2016 election, might be credited with slowing support for this topic. Click for all
candidates' headlines on Crime or for
background information.
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Absolute Right To Gun Ownership |
Strongly Support
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Support
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No Opinion
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Oppose
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Strongly Oppose
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Analysis: The
Gun Control issue is second in the Big Issues in terms of viewer
interest, behind Abortion -- all other issues are
very distantly behind. Voters support Trump on the issue: 42% agree with
Trump’s pro-gun rights stance, while 33% agree with
Biden's pro-registration stance. HOWEVER, support has been weakening in recent election cycles, we previously registered 55% support to 37% oppose --perhaps due to the focus on mass shootings since then.
This question exemplifies the "yes-bias": people prefer answering "yes" to any question; if we correct for that bias, this question is now opposed by the majority (but was not in 2012 or earlier). Our wording on this question has never changed, since 1999 -- but America's view is evolving.
Click for all candidates' headlines on
Gun_Control or for background
information.
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Expand ObamaCare |
Strongly Support
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Support
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No Opinion
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Oppose
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Strongly Oppose
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Analysis: This
topic is a leader in lopsided support: 56% in favor, versus only 24% opposing (slightly less favorable than 2012 and even less than in 2008).
We've changed the wording of this question from generic "health coverage" to "ObamaCare" for 2016, but the support ratio has remained steady.
Accordingly, Trump (and many Republicans) have been promoting various spending programs that
mimic aspects of ObamaCare without calling it ObamaCare (a term repugnant to Trump). But federal health care is generally seen as a
Democratic issue, favoring Biden's fervent stance of
incrementally reaching universal coverage. Click for all candidates'
headlines on Health Care or for
background information.
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Vouchers for school choice |
Strongly Support
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Support
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No Opinion
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Oppose
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Strongly Oppose
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Analysis: 27%
agree with Biden's stance favoring
public school choice and Common Core, and 47% agree with Trump’s stance to
fund vouchers for private schools. Education is primarily a non-federal
issue, with 93% of funding and most decisions occuring at the state and local
levels. But education is solidly third in voter interest (behind abortion and
guns, as measured by our viewership statistics), so the candidates are obligated to make their views known
despite the limited power of the presidency on this issu | | |