The trouble with multiple choice is, it allows for no initiative.

I am especially fond of Qs# 5, 9, 14, & 15, which each address two separate issues that are related in the popular imagination but are actually very different points. So my answers differ depending on whether the sky is overcast that day or not. There are other broad-brush questions as well, but I like to point out the obvious. :)

Let's do a lab.

If, on the 3PC.NET quiz, one chooses "maintain" for all the questions, which is to say, if someone is not inclined to change the status quo, the response one gets is this:

You must select increase or decrease for at least one sentence.

So someone who doesn't want to upset the applecart in at least one area is seen as having no party compatibility or affiliation. Balderdash.

Now, let's leave everything at "maintain" except Q#1, and let's say we want to "increase regulation of radio, TV, press, and internet content". These are our party compatibilities:

1) Democratic Party 100%
2) Republican Party 100%
3) Natural Law Party 100%
4) Green Party 100%
5) Reform Party 100%
6) Constitution Party 100%
7) Libertarian Party 0%

All righty, then.

As you might expect, if the "increase" is changed to "decrease" on the same question and all else remains unchanged, the results are:

1) Libertarian Party 100%
2) Democratic Party 0%
3) Republican Party 0%
4) Natural Law Party 0%
5) Green Party 0%
6) Reform Party 0%
7) Constitution Party 0%

Let's try a couple of other hot-button items. "Increase regulations on sex by consenting adults":

1) Republican Party 100%
2) Constitution Party 100%
3) Libertarian Party 0%
4) Democratic Party 0%
5) Natural Law Party 0%
6) Green Party 0%
7) Reform Party 0%

"Decrease" again supplies just the opposite: 100's for 0's, 0's for 100's.

This equates the Republican Party with the Constitution Party, if sex is the only thing that excites you. I have seen Constitution Party tables at gun shows, and I can tell you that all the women with minivans and tennis shoes that I know who serve on Republican committees wouldn't be caught within 10,000 feet of the guys at the tables.

Here's a surprise -- "Increase subsidies for the poor": lots of Democrats, right?

1) Republican Party 100%
2) Natural Law Party 100%
3) Green Party 100%
4) Reform Party 100%
5) Libertarian Party 0%
6) Democratic Party 0%
7) Constitution Party 0%

Hmmm. Really??

This little test tells me two things:
-The people who came up with the scoring chart have at least one wildly inaccurate benchmark.
-The subtleties of party affiliation are boiled down to one point in several cases.

One can infer a great range of inaccuracy from these results.

But anyone who has ever been a teenaged girl scoring her boyfriend with the multiple-choice test in an issue of Cosmo could have told you that.

Best regards, and what's your sign?--
Mary Anne