General Election 2008 Candidate Questionnaire Responses

By Jim Day

On September 11, 2008 we mailed each of the 138 candidates within our Missouri and Illinois readership areas our General Election 2008 Questionnaire. Along with the questionnaire, we mailed a cover letter explaining who we were, the purpose of our questionnaire and how they could respond. The cover letter began with the following: “The St. Louis MetroVoice is a NON-PARTISAN monthly newspaper that is distributed throughout the greater St. Louis metropolitan area and surrounding communities (including Illinois), that reaches approximately 40 to 50,000 readers in over 675 distribution points. We are presently assembling our November 2008 General Election Special Focus Issue, which will be distributed October 22, 2008. The purpose of this special issue is to provide candidates with the opportunity to relate their opinions and/or positions on issues that concern our readers and the general public. We do not endorse candidates or political parties and would greatly appreciate your participation in this issue by completing the enclosed candidate questionnaire and providing us with your photograph.” The candidates were initially asked to return their questionnaire by September 27th to participate.

The Process

As you can see, our stated purpose was clearly to provide candidates the opportunity to relate their opinions or positions on issues that we decided were of major concern to our readers and the public at large. We emphasized the point that we are non-partisan and did not endorse candidates or political parties. The cover letter was sent on MetroVoice stationery, which plainly read “St. Louis’ Christian News and Events Publication.”

Not only was this an excellent opportunity for the candidates to relate their personal opinions or positions on some of the top issues of our day but, at the same time, show the differences between themselves and their opponents on the issues. By extension, it allowed them to connect with prospective supporters/voters who agree with their positions/opinions. Quite clearly, candidates had nothing to lose from answering our unbiased questionnaire and everything to gain.

Candidates were given clear and concise instructions regarding a number of ways they could return their questionnaires and photos (either by U.S. Mail, fax or e-mail). All 138 candidates were mailed the questionnaire via First Class U.S. Mail to the address or addresses which they themselves provided to the Missouri and Illinois Secretary of State offices. By mailing the questionnaires First Class, we were assured that the candidate would receive the questionnaire or it would be returned to us as “undeliverable.”

To further ensure that every candidate received our questionnaire we employed the services of Mrs. Andrea Stone to call each of the candidates starting on September 15th. She concluded her calls on October 6th. Mrs. Stone was directed to call each candidate a bare minimum of three times, and if need be mail, fax, or e-mail another copy of the questionnaire and cover letter should the candidate (or their representative) state that they had not received the questionnaire or that it had been misplaced or lost.

As mentioned earlier, when the questionnaires were initially mailed, the candidates were given a deadline of September 27th to respond. Knowing that most candidates receive a great number of questionnaires and are typically busy campaigning or working, we went the extra mile and extended the due date deadline first to October 6th and then again to October 7th just to make sure every candidate had ample time to respond.

Mrs. Stone spent hour upon hour on the phone and web visiting candidate’s web sites as well as Vote Smart to obtain phone numbers, double checking addresses, obtaining email addresses and speaking to candidates and/or their representatives to make sure not a single candidate was over looked and that every candidate received his or her questionnaire. At various times during the process I personally contacted a number of candidates myself and emailed a great number of candidates encouraging them to send in their questionnaire and photo.

The Reasoning Behind the Process

By now, you’re probably asking yourself, “Why did we go through such a lengthy, time consuming and costly process to make sure every candidate got our questionnaire and had the opportunity to respond?” The answer is quite simple, and in fact, was printed at the end of the questionnaire itself which read: “If it [the questionnaire] is not returned we will assume you Chose Not to Respond, which will be noted next to your name in our section.”

We obviously took our efforts and questionnaire seriously. We strongly believe that citizens should be informed as to where a candidate stands on issues which presently (or could in the future) affect their lives -- before they vote for any candidate. In fact, we believe that those who are in public office or vying for public office are actually obligated to inform citizens of their positions on issues because of their potential or present representative status.

With this in mind, the readers will note that several candidates have “Chose Not to Respond” printed next to their names. This was their choice -- not ours. We would have rather that they had responded. If your candidate didn’t respond, I suggest you call them and ask them why not. I can assure you, it was not because they were not given the opportunity.

The Questionnaires

In structuring the questionnaires, we didn’t actually ask the candidates a question per se. Instead, we provided them with 10 different topics each with at least two, and some with more than two, statements under each topic. In our instructions we asked the candidate to circle only one of the statements under each topic that reflected their opinion or position or came the closest to their opinion or position. By in large, we attempted to provide the candidates with a range of choices which reflected opinions from one end of the political spectrum to the other. And, for good measure, we threw in choices which tested the candidate’s knowledge of political philosophy and history, such as some of the statements offered under the topics of the Legislative Philosophy, U.S. Constitution and the Second Amendment.

Our objective was not just to get the candidate’s opinion, but to encourage them to really think about their opinion/position on each topic. Hopefully -- assuming the candidate was honest -- our readers will be able ascertain from the candidate’s selections how the candidate thinks, how informed they are, and what type of world view they possess. On the surface it may appear that our questionnaire was simple, but I assure you, it was not a no-brainer.

Candidates’ Answers

The vast majority of candidates chose (as they were asked to do) just one of the statements provided under each topic. Although it was not specifically stated in our cover letter or on the questionnaire itself, we did allow the candidates to add short clarification comments if they felt that the selections we provided under each topic did not quite reflect their opinion or position. Some candidates chose a statement, but wrote a clarifying comment. Others chose not to give any opinion or left the topic blank and wrote in a comment.

If a candidate selected one of our statements but added a comment, we recorded their choice, added an asterisk (*) next to their selection, and recorded their comment below their total list of answers. For example, under our topic of Abortion one of the four choices we provided was “[d] Abortions should not be allowed except to save the life of the mother.” A candidate may have selected [d] but added a clarifying statement such as “In the case of an ectopic pregnancy.” In this particular case you’ll see their recorded response as 5. d*. Then, below their list of recorded responses, you’ll find *5. Chose ‘d’ and wrote in: “In the case of an ectopic pregnancy.”

On questionnaires where a candidate chose not to select any of our choices but chose instead to make a comment or write in their opinion/position, we recorded their response as “NR*” (No Response with an asterisk *). Here again, below their list of recorded responses we quoted their written response/comment.

In just a couple of cases candidates wrote rather lengthy paragraphs and addendums to explain their positions as opposed to selecting just one of the statements below a topic. Had they kept their comments short, they would have been reported. However, in cases where the candidate chose to supply us with what essentially boiled down to a ‘Policy Statement’ instead of following the rules, we put “NR” as their answer. Policy statements, aside from being lengthy for the most part and, in some cases misleading, were not what we asked for.

Last but not least, some candidates chose not to make a selection under one or more of the topics, so in those cases, we simply put “NR” for No Response.

If a candidate did not respond to our questionnaire at all, you’ll find “CHOSE NOT TO RESPOND” next to their name.

Incumbent candidates, those presently holding either a federal or state office for which they are seeking reelection, are indicated by a lower case italicized and bolded “i” after their name.

Can’t Find Your Candidate?

If you can’t find your candidate listed there are four possibilities; 1. They are in a contest outside of our readership area, 2. They are a local candidate running for an office below that of a State Representative (i.e. County Executive, Sheriff, etc.), 3. They are an Independent or write-in candidate. (There are some Independent and write-in candidates who will appear on the November ballot however, we chose for a number of reasons not to include those candidates with the exception of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Independent candidates in our General Election issue.), and 4. They have already won their race by default (meaning no one from another political party will be running against them in the November General Election).

Score Your Candidate

To see whether or not you agree with the candidates who are vying for your vote, you will need to compare their answers to the questionnaires. We recommend that you first list the answers of your favorite candidates on a separate piece of paper then go to the questionnaire and compare their answers. This will save you the time and effort of having to turn back and forth between the questionnaire and your candidates’ answers.

We also highly encourage you to read what we believe the answers to each of our topics should have been from a biblical, Christian world view perspective and compare your candidates’ responses as well.

Our prayer is that this information will assist you in making the right choice on whom to vote for in the upcoming election.

In closing, I want to make sure everyone remembers that regardless of the outcome of this election, Christ Jesus is still on His throne at the right hand of His Father, He is still in charge, and He works everything for good for those who are called according to His purpose. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!