The Voter's Self-Defense System

[MachineGhost]

The audience was dead silent, as was my staff following the debate. However, two weeks later in Washington I visited retiring Senator Barry Goldwater, whose seat I hoped to win. As I entered his office he shooed out his staff and closed the door. I listened as he talked about having entered politics as a young man, how he had such passion about the issues and wanted to make a difference. But as he put it, for the last dozen years he had been doing what I had described in my closing argument and he found it "humiliating, even dangerous." We talked about how as candidates had simply learned to move people emotionally instead of intellectually. Something needed to change.

Thus the idea to build a Voter's Self-Defense System was born. A system that would allow any citizen to instantly defend themselves with abundant, accurate, relevant information about who we were as candidates and what we were likely to do for them—or to them—if elected.

It has taken years and the efforts of over 100,000 people and the Voter’s Self-Defense System is finally ready for delivery to the American people. Voting records, biographical details, issue positions, campaign finances, public comments and the evaluations by more than 200 liberal to conservative special interests. All instantly available on a web site with live toll-free voter assistance (www.votesmart.org or 1-888-VOTE SMART).

It is uniquely protected, requiring every board member to be balanced by a political opposite, taking no money from corporations or lobbying interests, and staffed by hundreds of volunteers and student interns. It now enables any citizen to check up on the often misleading and manipulative claims made by candidates and elected officials.

[Storm]

It's a pretty nice site, but I'm sure Joe Sixpack is never going to visit it.  I need a voter defense system that works against undereducated voters.  When Joe Sixpack gets his election information from cable news, no website can help us.