Friday 18 February 2011

Try Votomatic, the lazy person's voting aid.

Came across this interesting little application on Slugger yesterday.

It asks you some questions on various topics, which you answer on a graded basis.  You know the type of thing -  "completely agree", "somewhat agree" and so on.  A bit like an MRBI poll.

The questions seem quite neutral in this, however, and when you've finished - it doesn't take long - it will match up your choices with the stated policies of the current five largest parties. 

Try it - it's good.  You might even be surprised with the answer you get...

Click here for the Votomatic voting app

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9 comments:

Ponyboy said...

I'm worried - i found a lot of my answers were in line with Shinner policy. Maybe i'll redo the survey... and must say that even tho i do enjoy reading comments in the auld Teanga Duchais I loved Rupert Pennyfeather's comment -"stop that poxy jive talking
PB

Larry said...

Loved that comment too.

Anonymous said...

I scored -13 for FG.

What a relief!!!

Ella said...

@PonyBoy, you thinking of starting your own Noraid branch in Taz!

Yeah, I know just what you mean I had a little shock myself, not that dissimilar to your own.

Dakota said...

Interesting app but ironically on the same site there's an excellent submmation by a chap called Chris Caldwell, of the present day reality in Ireland.

Basically he says:

"In the grand old days before the Irish real estate boom collapsed, the ruling Fianna Fáil party used to campaign the fun way. Infamously, the party held blowout fundraisers every year in a tent at the Galway races. Bankers and property magnates would show up, caked in bling, surrounded by attractive young women and occasionally even their wives, and get drunk with their elected representatives and regulators.
Fianna Fáil held the enviable position which, in the United States, the Republican party has occupied for most of the last few decades. It was the party of the working and the middle classes, and even of about half of Ireland’s rich people​—​a natural ruling party of the godly, the nationalistic, and the “normal.” Its main opposition, Fine Gael, guarded the habits of the snobby “Ascendancy” that had ruled Ireland before its independence. Fine Gael was more like the Brahmin wing of the Democratic party: sissified, intellectual, irreligious, relativistic, technocratic, and called in only when the populist juggernaut of Fianna Fáil got out of control and did something spectacularly idiotic or corrupt, as it did with some regularity".

Thats it, where to from here? Well I don't know about but to even contemplate paying more tax for the above reasons is painful in a Dantesque sort of way. Add into the mix an apathetic, feckless, somewhat bovine elecorate, a Labour party to the right of New Labour in the UK(now possibly old again in a jiggery pokery sort of way), the Sinn Fein party (enough said), the independents (if they get some power, will want to do a George Lee), the Greens (enough said, oh hold, on I do admire their stag hunting and dog breeding bills! that's about though), the socialists (eh, Irish socialists, contradiction in terms there) and you have all the ingredients for a cake in your own face. Ah no I josh, Ireland is really a halcyon low tax (oh wow, nearly laughted myself into a coma there) atlantic paradise, populated with oh sooooo sophisticated individuals (who wear there Yves Saint Lauren shades on top of their head in the Irish monsoon, don't you know) who think of no one but their fellow citizens.

As my friend in the UK pointed out to me again yesterday, Ireland is a great place if you're living comfortably on a big fat pension(preferably in pounds Sterling), yet still quite young (you don't want to face the Hospitals) in a nice well insulated house far away from all the cities (especially Dublin). If you don't happen to live in such circumstances, well, your best bet is buy a tent in Galway and wait 10 years, C'est La Vie.

The Gombeen Man said...

@ Ponyboy. Yes, you can get some "unexpected" results alright. So can we, as Ella suggests, expect a Tassie branch of Noraid to explode (ha ha) on the scene?

@ Larry. Yes - excellent.

@ Anon. And there's me having you down as a Shinner too! ;-)

@ Very eloquently put, Dakota. It concurs with my belief that Ireland is a great little country if you are Bono, Microsoft, or similar.

Anonymous said...

The bottom line is
Its goin to be another centre right government,propped up by a small number of self serving,local issues independents.
The anti Labour slant began to appear about 3/4 weeks ago,along with anti union rhetoric.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link GM. Unfortunately I can't vote thanks to the ass backwards nature of the "Secret Ballot" meaning that even if you are temporarily away from the country, you can't send in a postal vote or vote at an Embassy.

Its also interesting to see the comments. Already the religious nutbars are out in force in the social policy section yelling about Abortion and Gay Marriage though its heartening that both questions have a high percentage rate on the "Completely Agree" answer.

The Gombeen Man said...

No problem. Yes... it is heartening alright. Let's hope the nutters are on borrowed time.