Republican, Democrat, Other? You may not be what you think!!

I received this from a friend... and thought that it was very well done, very smart, and VERY useful. So I thought that I would share it with everyone. Take a little bit of time, copy this and print or write it down, spend the time going over it, and really think about the issues, and why you have the opinions that you do. Figure out what the reasons are, and see where you stand on the issues. THEN when you have the opportunity to engage someone in a political discussion, you have the "ammo" to be able to really discuss the issue with them and why you have the opinions that you do.

(Donate to Dave's Effort here.)

I get told a lot that I should run for office. That's not something I'm interested in, but it did spur me recently to put together a list of recognizable "hot topic" political issues just to see where I would fall in the spectrum based on my beliefs. The results surprised me.

Here are some of the things I hadn't thought of before:

1. There are a lot more issues than I thought that today's politicians must deal with.

2. If you fill out how you stand on every issue here, you'll realize you're probably more or less liberal or conservative than you think.

3. If you fill out how you stand on every issue here, and your answers fall 100% to one "side" or the other, then you're suffering from blind party loyalty and need to reassess your thinking.

4. Completing this exercise proves to me that the popular definitions/labels of "Republican" and "Democrat" are a fallacy. We are Americans, and as a Free People we should be intelligent enough to think for ourselves and not fall prey to the constraints of a label or allow ourselves to get caught up in the divisiveness that government seeks to wedge between us.

Here's the list. It's worth the time to struggle through actually thinking about and writing down what you believe. I bet you'll surprise yourself too!

Abortion
Affirmative Action
Agricultural, Farm Policy, Genetically Modified Food
American Flag Desecration
Animal Rights and Wildlife Issues
Arts and Humanities
Campaign Finance Reform
Censorship
Civil Liberties
College Affordability
Congressional Term Limits
Constitutionality of the "Pledge of Allegiance"
Consumer Protection Laws
Continued US Presence in Iraq
Crime, Corporate
Crime, Individual
Death Penalty
Disaster Reponse
Drugs, Medical Marijuana
Economy
Education
Energy Issues / Policy / Dependence on Foreign Oil / Peak Oil
Environment, Cap and Trade, Kyoto, etc.
Equal Opportunity
Ethnic Cleansing
Euthanasia
Family and Children Issues
Federal Budget, Spending vs. Balance
Federal Reserve & Banking
Federal, State, and Local Relations
Foreign Aid
Foreign Policy
Gambling and Gaming
Gay Marriage / Rights
Gays in the Military (Don't Ask Don't Tell)
Global AIDS Crisis
Global Role of the U.S.
Global Warming / Climate Change
Government Sponsored Assassinations
Gun Control (See also Second Amendment Rights)
Health Care, Insurance, Malpractice Law, Patient Rights, etc.
Housing and Property Issues
Immigration
Indecency
Infrastructure
International Trade / Free Trade / Globalization
Iran's Nuclear Energy Program
Iraqi Prisoner Abuse
Israel
Justice System
Labor / Unions
Language, English as National Language
Law Enforcement
Legal System
Media Bias
Medical Research (See also Stem Cell Research)
Medicare, Medicaid
Middle East Crisis
Military / National Defense Spending
Military / National Defense Strategy
Minimum Wage (See Workers' Rights)
Moral & Ethical Values
National Debt
National Security Issues
Net Neutrality
North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program
Nuclear Testing
Offshoring
Political Corruption
Poverty - US and World
Presidential Line Item Veto
Prison Reform
Privacy
Race Relations
Racial Profiling
Retirement Age
School Uniforms
School Vouchers
Scientific Research
Second Amendment Rights (See also Gun Control)
Separation of Church and State, School Prayer
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Social Issues
Social Security
Space Exploration
Stem Cell Research (See also Medical Research)
Tax Cuts
Tax Reform
Taxes
Technology and Communication (FCC)
Teenage Pregnancy
Terrorism
Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection
Tort Reform
Torture
Transparency in Government
Transportation Issues
Unemployment
Veterans Issues
Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Welfare, Corporate
Welfare, Individual
Women's Issues
Workers' Rights, Minimum Wage / Hours / Abuses
World Hunger
WTO, IMF, UN, World Bank, Doha Round