Resource Reminder

I sometimes forget that not everybody has seen Project Vote Smart and the Polling Report. If you haven't, you're in for a treat.

Project Vote Smart is a remarkably comprehensive database of information on politicians and candidates for political office. Take a look at the site's list of Presidential candidates, and you'll see that not only are there over 150 people on the ballot for President, you can also read all the speeches and public statements made by any of them.

And you can search the speeches, too. Has John Kerry ever mentioned Sudan in a stump speech? Sure enough, he has, on January 23rd of last year at Georgetown University.

PollingReport.com is a huge compendium of opinion polls that run the gamut of issues from religion to sports. If you're looking for statistics for an article, check here first.

Just surfing through some of the site's statistics can spark some story ideas. For example, while most Americans approve of the use of federal funds to "support social programs like day care and drug rehabilitation run by Christian religious organizations," most Americans disapprove of federal funds being used by Islamic organizations for the same purpose. Do we see this divide acted out anywhere? Are there any Islamic religious groups receiving federal funding, and have they experienced problems?

Al Tompkins, Poynter's Broadcast group leader, has listed Project Vote-Smart and a ton of other political resources on the Web here (you can also find this link on STUMP's right rail).

Comments

[Jim Ettwein]

I'm growing weary of all these polls. I've started my own website www.lietothepollsters.com to register not only my opinion of this, but that of others as well.
Jim Ettwein
www.LieToThePollsters.com