Candidates and the economy: Five places to check out who shares your views on the issues

Feb 6, 2008
NEW YORK -- The economy has become the No. 1 issue for most Americans. With both the Republican and Democratic nominations still up in the air, it's more important than ever to find out where the candidates stand on economic policy.

And, somewhat to my surprise, that's not so easy to do.

Try as you might -- search as you might -- and you'll usually find candidate positions on the economy in one of two places: candidate Web sites and individual stories in the media.

An information gap?

Most candidate Web sites offer quotes and platform statements from that candidate on the economy, taxes, jobs, trade -- whatever you're looking for.
But how do you compare with other candidates? Open a second, third or fourth window for their sites? Can you compare these positions statements "apples to apples?" And how much "spin" is added by their marketing staffs?

And the hundreds of media stories might take hours to sort through. It's a scattershot approach. Unless you find a story directly comparing the candidates -- all the candidates -- on an issue, you're still stuck.

I like things presented side-by-side so I can quickly absorb and compare facts, features and analysis. Translation: a table. That's how I like to make decisions. And it happens to be how I like shop most "big ticket" purchases -- like the president I have to live with for the next four to eight years!
So where is that 15-minute comparative summary of where the candidates stand on the economy? It took some work, but I found a few.

Setting the economic table

Here are the best I found (and there are probably others):

1. New York Times (nytimes.com) politics page. It isn't so easy to find the "economy" comparison (I've done it for you) but it gives a good summary of each candidate's take. You can "drill down" into news stories or link to candidate sites from there. Visit the site.

2. Newsday.com. This rising New York-based online newspaper star publishes one of the cleanest tables I found -- not only on the economy but other issues too. The Democrats are listed first, then the Republicans. Check the site.

3. Cnnpolitics.com. CNN apparently likes the table format and so they publish on their "cnnpolitics" page a rundown on major issues. But the only economic issue they compare is "taxes." Worth noting, but could be more complete. See the site.

4. Nightly Business Report. Supporting this popular PBS show is a site with a well-designed set of "Presidential Candidates Grids" covering two sides of the economic equation: "Government and Taxes" and "Jobs and Trade." I especially like the bullet-point format. Check out the site.

5. Ontheissues.org. This nonprofit political portal doesn't offer a comparative grid but does drill down into issues and especially recent behaviors and votes of the major candidates. For a little more "color" and depth on specific economic issues, try it. Visit the site.

Facts > analysis > knowledge

I was surprised at how hard this was. Makes me wonder if I were a newspaper CEO for a day, in the face of the heralded decline in this industry, if there's an opportunity. An opportunity not just to collect and report the news but to provide handy summaries and breakdowns on a variety of topics. So that people like you and me can get to the answers quickly -- in 15 minutes or less.

Would that be a shot in the arm for this beleaguered industry? One can only wonder.

In the meantime, these tools will help you can make your decision with the best information in hand.