Speed politics

ABC News potentially could put thousands image makers and journalists out of work with its 2008 presidential Match-o-Matic, an Internet devise that blends the concepts of politics and on-line dating, which sounds a whole lot worse than it actually is.

Would-be voters can use Match-o-Matic to identify their top three presidential candidates in about 60 seconds. It works this way: Users take an 11-question survey on the Iraq war, healthcare, immigration, gay marriage and a few other topics. The survey offers four to six answers for each question. (In some instances though, I wished it offered at least one more option.)

At the conclusion of the quiz portion, Match-o-Matic sifts through the policy positions of the 17 announced presidential candidates in both political parties and spits out the top three candidates based on each survey-taker’s responses, with no regard for the candidates’ charisma or checkbooks. In addition, the site provides quotes or background information from or about about the selected candidates concerning each of the 11 topics.

Tucson blogger Tom Dunn, who writes ThinkRight Arizona, discovered Match-o-Matic and gave it a test drive. He said it ranked Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Fred Thompson as his blog’s top three choices.

Match-o-Matic can be accessed here: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/page?id=3623346.

Dunn’s blog, which comments on politics from a Republican point of view, can be accessed here:  Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.