Jack Givens talks with Bobby Calvin about using OnTheIssues.org to Help Choose a Presidential Candidate

A surprise to me, I was the lead story for the Sacramento Bee today with a story on internet tools to choose candidates. The topic is great one and the reporter only misquoted me a little! The photographer told me later, after I described my views, that he should run for president based on what I said.

Bobby Caina Calvan of SacBee.com:

Jack Givens is staunchly libertarian, with a streak of evangelical conservatism. He wants government out of people’s lives, supports the war in Iraq and would deny amnesty to illegal immigrants.

He stands firm in his vision for the country’s future – but as he winnows the field of presidential candidates, which one will he choose to stand with him?

To make up his mind, Givens, a military software developer who lives in Antelope, has plunged into the Internet, flying through the blogosphere and landing on such sites as Digg, MySpace and YouTube to amass his knowledge of where the candidates stand.

Tough work, Givens said, until he stumbled across one site, www.ontheissues.org that aims to bring together the politically compatible – a wonk’s version of an online dating service.

He weighed in on the litmus issues of the day – the war in Iraq, immigration, civil liberties, health care. In return, the Web site matched him with a candidate whose positions most aligned with his.

But Duncan Hunter?

For Givens, it was far from a match made in political heaven. “I have to say it was a shock,” he said.

He thought he’d be more aligned with the likes of Fred Thompson, the actor and former Tennessee senator. On the survey, Thompson finished way down his list.

[...]

“The problem with these sites is that they don’t show the intangibles,” such things as leadership, passion and electability, Givens said.

On Wednesday, a day after Thompson withdrew his bid for president, Givens was back online – visiting news sites, blogs and matchmaking sites.

“If you take the test, wait 24 hours, then take the test again, the next time, the order might be different,” Givens said.

His top finishers on one site: Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee.

“Until I walk through the test, I’m not going to decide,” Givens said.

The interesting part is that the writer is none other then Bobby Calvan (See Michelle Malkin: Jerk of the Year Nominee). After reading more on Bobby Calvan and meeting him in person I think many conservatives made more of a big deal about it then it really warranted, at least the initial story. The guy was certainly being a whiner and a pain in the behind but that hardly makes him an agent for satan. I am fairly certain he is left leaning but I think it is hard to get a job at the Bee otherwise.