| 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 Romney's & Obama's stances from
the 2012 elections. This data represents about 620 VoteMatch quiz responses in the
period Sept. 25 through Oct. 25, 2012. Click on the links below for excerpts
on each topic, or click for a summary of
Obama's VoteMatch answers and
Romney'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 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: 65%
agree with Obama's pro-choice
stance, and only 32% with
Romney's pro-life stance. This issue has the fewest people answering "no
opinion" of any VoteMatch issue (only 3%), which reflects the fact that it is
overwhelmingly the issue with the most voter interest (as indicated by our
viewership statistics). Compared to 2008, the 2012 response set has become more polarized (both "strong" answers increased in percentage)
and more shifted towards "support". Click for all candidates' headlines on
abortion or for background
information.
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Require Companies To Hire More 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: Obama
supports
Affirmative Action on the basis of past discrimination; Romney supports
Affirmative Access despite that Obama tries to portray that he does not. Note that
our question specifies REQUIREMENT: 51% support that, and 33% oppose it. (This
has changed from 39% in 2008 and 35% support in 2004, the largest shift for
any question which had identical wording then). Click for all candidates'
headlines on Civil Rights or for
background information.
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Same-sex domestic partnership benefits |
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: 69%
agree with Obama has
become "comfortable" with same-sex marriage, and 20% with
Romney's Defense-of-Marriage stance. The "strongly support" bar has the highest response of any
quiz question (and has grown since 2008 and again since 2004) -- this is attributable to the
growing interest in this topic due to the advent of same-sex marriages. We strengthened the wording in 2008
and we will strengthen it further after 2012 to include "marriage" instead of just "benefits"
Click for all candidates' headlines on
Civil Rights or for
background information.
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Teacher-led prayer in public schools |
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: It's
difficult to decode Obama's stances on religious issues, but Romney
is not so wary of issues of separation of church and state.
Romney is considerably more willing to talk about his own faith
and faith in schools, which the results above would imply are supported by
53% of voters. 33% oppose school prayer, which implies a closer match to
Obama's stance separating church and state. Click for all candidates'
headlines on Education or for headlines on
Values.
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Death Penalty |
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: Romney
supports the death penalty, and Obama is opposed. Romney's
fervent support is backed up by 54% of voters. Obama's
opposition is backed by 35% of voters (a shift from 49%-38% in
2008). Click for all candidates' headlines on Crime
or for background information.
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Mandatory "Three Strikes" Sentencing Laws |
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: Romney
supports mandatory sentencing, which matches voter preference: 53% to 25%
opposed. Obama prefers
prevention (support for mandatory sentencing has increased since
2008). Romney is more fervent than the wording of this question, in favor of
"One Strike" and limited leniency. 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 Three issues in terms of viewer
interest, behind Abortion and ahead of Education -- all the other issues are
very distantly behind. Voters support Romney on the issue: 55% agree with
Romney's pro-gun rights stance, while 37% agree with
Obama's pro-registration stance. Click for all candidates' headlines on
Gun_Control or for background
information.
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More Federal Funding For Health Coverage |
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 the second most lopsided response: 63% in favor, versus only 26% opposing (slightly less favorable than 2008).
However, more people "support" than "strongly support", a switch since 2008.
Accordingly, Romney has been promoting various spending programs but
at the state level like RomneyCare. But federal health care is generally seen as a
Democratic issue, favoring Obama's more fervent stance of
incrementally reaching universal coverage. Click for all candidates'
headlines on Health Care or for
background information.
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Privatize Social Security |
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: Only
36% agree with Obama's stance to keep Social Security
within the federal government, while 45% agree with Romney's stance of
privatization (but support of privatization has waned since the
2004 score of 56%-29%). Social Security until recently was called the
"Third Rail" of politics -- touch it and you die -- but clearly the voters are
ready for a change. This question is perhaps the most skewed by our
demographics -- our respondents are all Internet users, and hence are younger
and more affluent than the general population. Click for all candidates'
headlines on Social Security or for
background information.
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Parents Choose Schools Via Vouchers |
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: 39%
agree with Obama's weaker stance favoring
public schools, and 43% agree with Romney's stance to
fund vouchers for private schools. But Obama and Romney agree in general on voucher-based reform,
so this question is a matter if degree instead of disagreement. Furthermore, 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 issue. Click for all
candidates' headlines on School Choice or for
background information.
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Replace coal & oil with alternatives |
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 the most lopsided of any response: 73% in favor, versus only 14% opposing. The candidates sharply
differ; this is a particularly sharp difference because the question is worded
in stronger terms than on our 2008 quiz, and the response is stronger than in 2008.
The majority agree with Obama's stance that
global warming is a serious threat, vs. Romney's stance
drill for more oil. Click for all candidates' headlines on
Energy or for background
on Environment or
background on Energy issues.
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Drug Use Is Immoral: Enforce Laws Against It |
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: 49%
support the Drug War, while 33% oppose it. This has not been much of a campaign
issue but Romney & Obama disagree: Obama would
treat drugs with treatment, while Romney would implement
stronger penalties. Click for all candidates' headlines on
Drugs or for background
information.
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Allow Churches To Provide Welfare Services |
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: Both
Romney & Obama once again agree with a voter consensus: 47% favor welfare
services by private organization while only 28% oppose it. Obama favors
continuing welfare reform, and Romney favors
faith-based organizations. Click for all candidates' headlines on
welfare & poverty or for
background information.
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Make taxes more progressive |
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: 53%
agree with a more progressive tax structure and only 32% oppose. Progressive taxation is generally
seen as a Democratic issue, so this consensus favors Obama. Romney favors a
making the tax cuts permanent; Obama favors
the wealthy paying a greater share. Click for all candidates' headlines
on Tax Reform or for
background information.
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Illegal immigrants earn citizenship |
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: Immigration
had the biggest drop in viewers answering "No opinion", falling from 21% in 2008 to only 8% in 2012.
In other words, Americans made up their minds on immgration -- but the
results, 48% in favor and 44% opposed, indicate a lack of voter consensus as
well. Romney calls
for tougher enforcement
and more business visas. Obama calls for
earned citizenship plus comprehensive reforms. Click for all candidates'
headlines on Immigration or for
background information.
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Support and Expand Free Trade |
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: Free
Trade has the smallest strong opposition of our 20 issues (7%, despite the
anti-globalization focus of the Occupy Movement), as well as a strong consensus in favor:
52% to only 28% opposed. Romney & Obama agree in restricting free trade
but supporting free trade agreements, with Romney focusing on
restricting China, and Obama voting for free trade agreements while insisting
on labor and
environmental standards. Click for all candidates' headlines on
Free Trade or for background
information.
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Expand the armed forces |
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 the most dramatic switch since the last election: now the majority opposes, 42%-45%, while in 2008 the majority supported 54%-29%.
The great secret of quizzes is that people prefer to answer "support" -- this is the only question where "oppose" cleanly wins.
In other words, Americans have grown tired in the last four years of the massive spending on the armed forces.
Romney & Obama outdo each other in pledging better
military pay; but they differ on what else they would spend on, with Romney
focusing on a general
military buildup and a strong foreign policy and Obama focusing on
a collaborative foreign policy with shared expenditures. Romney bashes Obama for reducing military spending, but Obama in fact only reduces the rate of growth.
The third-party candidates all point out the folly of supporting the
military-industrial complex, and they have the public's support, but no support from the two major parties.
for all candidates' headlines on Foreign Policy in general,
or for background
information.
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Stricter limits on political campaign funds |
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: 67%
favor, and only 17% oppose, campaign finance reform. This indicates a public reaction against "Citizens United,"
the Supreme Court case which removed many restrictions on campaign spending. It also favors Obama's
stance against Citizens United compared to Romney's
defense of campaign spending as free speech. Click for all candidates' headlines on
Campaign Finance Reform, or for
background information.
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The Patriot Act harms civil liberties |
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: 45%
oppose the Patriot Act, and 28% support it -- but this is the only
issue of our 20 questions where "No Opinion" is the single most frequent response.
That indicates that the population is unclear on the implications of the Patriot Act --
so neither Obama's
limitations on the Patriot Act's intrusive aspects nor Romney's
plans to strengthen the Patriot Act are strongly favored by voters. Click for all candidates' headlines on
Homeland Security or for background
information.
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US out of Iraq & Afghanistan |
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: 68%
favor ending our ongoing wars and 15% oppose doing so -- the most strongly skewed response toward "strongly favor" and away from "strongly oppose."
In other words, there are few remaining supporters of maintaining the American presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama says we will
withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014, while Romney would
only leave Afghanistan when our generals concur. And yes, we intend this question to still say "Iraq" for the November 2012
-- the third-party candidates are clear that
the US has not truly left Iraq and that
the US is on the same path to war in Iran. Click for all candidates' headlines on
War + Peace or for
background information.
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Explore The Results
Take the 2016 VoteMatch
Quiz
| Analysis of 2008 McCain-Obama quiz
| 2004 Bush-Kerry quiz
| 2000 Bush-Gore quiz
The above analyses reflect data collected from Sept. 25, 2012 through Oct. 25, 2012,
Sample size is over 600 respondents for each question. The margin of error is
about 4%, but the data represents a "self-selected sample" of people who
use the Internet for political information.
|
Click here for