[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Ibram

Uh... what's wrong with The Political Compass?

Getting a second opinion can be useful. Plus this puts the results in the perspective of the current legislature. Although, a phrase like "your views are probably best served by a nearly equal mix of Democrats and Republicans in the legislatures" is both generally good advice and difficult to apply more specifically.

Democrats and Republicans both have individuals who vary from centrist to extreme. Noone would confuse the late and unlamented Rick Santorum with Olympia Snow, who's centrist views (and common sense) put her at odds with President Bush.

From here:

The picture said it all: Susan Collins, Republican senator from Maine, at the state dinner last week. Not only at the dinner but placed in the best seat in the house--right next to George W. Bush. "It was the president's idea," coos a top White House adviser. "He really likes Susan." Absent (that is, not invited) was the senior Republican senator from Maine, Olympia Snowe. Even by Washington standards, it was a pretty good snub.

"The president wanted to say thanks" to Collins, says an aide, because she wound up supporting his $350 billion tax cut after holding back at the outset. The state's other moderate, Snowe, just couldn't get with the administration's program. "I came up against my principles and came back time and time again to the things I most believe in," Snowe told me last week. "I feel badly I disagree with the president, but you have to weigh what you can live with at the end of the day."

It's not that Collins caved. She didn't. In fact, she was part of a group that pushed the administration to add $20 billion in state aid to the tax bill. But for Snowe, the issue was different: It was about swallowing the huge cost and gimmickry of the tax cuts that will allegedly expire in three to five years--but really won't. Snowe calls the package a "trillion-dollar tax cut masquerading at $350 billion." In her conversation with me, she pointed out that she has spent her entire career in politics "talking about deficits and balanced budgets." Most Americans also seem just as skittish about tax cuts: According to last week's Wall Street Journal /NBC News poll, only 29 percent of voters believe that tax cuts are the best way to increase economic growth. A majority also say that, instead of tax cuts, they would prefer to see Washington provide money to help pay for health coverage.