Remember the Pepsi Challenge?
People would try two cups of cola, one Pepsi, the other Coca-Cola. After they tried both, they would say which one they liked better and then the Pepsi rep would reveal which product they actually prefer.
Supposedly, a lot of people were surprised to learn that while they thought they preferred Coca-Cola, they actually prefer Pepsi.
Vito asked, what if we applied that to the issues and the candidates? I know, I know -- there are other factors like character, charisma, and great hair that might impact our choice. But just based on matching issues, where do we match up with the candidates?
I found two online quizzes that purport to do just that. The first one, glassbooth.org, matched me up with John McCain (63% similarity). The second one, VAJoe's Candidate Calculator, matched me with Ralph Nader (whom I dislike quite a bit) -- also with a 63% similarity. That isn't the only oddity, either. The Candidate Calculator also said John McCain is my lowest match.
I don't know the methodologies of either. One might be correct or both might be wrong. It's still a pretty neat experiment. Check out the links below to take your own challenge and see which soft drink, er, candidate you prefer.
Link to glassbooth.org
Link to VAJoe's Candidate Calculator
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Pepsi Challenge and Election 2008
Posted by Jay at 3:43 PM
Labels: Election 2008
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5 comments:
I tried both polls . . .
Now I have diabetes.
[Nader 92% in the 1st one.
Nader 87.7% in the 2nd one.]
Nadar, 87 and 86% respectively. Obama in the mid 70s and McCain below 50% in both cases. Interesting quizzes.
Interesting, huh? I don't know what it means, really, but interesting nevertheless.
I would rather flip a coin than rely on someone's poll questions to help me decide. If I am that confused, then the coin is probably a BETTER way to go.
I don't think anyone is suggesting we let an online poll -- or even a coin flip -- decide our vote. I just thought it's interesting to see where we might match up strictly based on issues.
And, as I said, we don't know the methodologies used. I just think it's interesting.
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