Political matches made in cyberspace

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.

For Dave Park, the results from another online questionnaire, www.glassbooth.org, brought validation for his support of Barack Obama. "I guess 'relief' is the right word," said Park, chief executive officer for a music-technology firm he directs from Elk Grove.

He concedes he may still be open to other choices.

"It seems surreal to second-guess," said Park, who stumbled across the site just days after it was launched in November. He doesn't remember how.

"I tend to stay pretty close to the flame in terms of keeping myself as well informed as possible," Park said.

"You have these ... beliefs, and you get a chance to actually have those beliefs tested and have it revalidated independently."

With 1 in 5 Californians undecided, according to mid-January Field Polls, they're looking for any help they can get to see how the candidates stack up before the Feb. 5 primary.

There is excitement because, for once, there seems to be a sense of choice, according to Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento.

"Even people who say they have made up their minds are holding on to their absentee ballots," she said.

"This time, it's not a vote among necessary evils, but it's a vote for affinity, who you have affinity for."

Political matchmaking sites have their value, O'Connor said.

"I think people will find them interesting and it will force them to look at their values. I think it's all healthy," O'Connor said.

Since its launch in early November, Glassbooth.org has had more than 700,000 people fill out its online test, said Ian Manheimer, 24, executive director of the Cambridge, Mass.-based project.

Glassbooth.org was the product of a discussion about how "appalling and shocking" the state of democracy had become, he said.

"People who aren't voting said they weren't informed enough about the candidates and what the candidates believe in," Manheimer said.

So the group began working on a questionnaire aimed at helping voters learn not only where politicians stand on the issues, but also figure out their own values.

They culled newspapers, campaign material and other information to assemble what the group thinks is an unbiased database of the candidates' positions on the major issues. Then they set out to write algorithms that would quantify the results.

"We're not telling you who to vote for," Manheimer said. "Often, people get results that they don't agree with. … No matter your results, you're more educated."

The sites have their critics, even among those who find some value in them. Questions are sometimes too specific, sometimes not specific enough.

"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.

But Dana Pope, 37, of south Sacramento, who "didn't vote all these years because I didn't want to make the wrong decision," is thrilled about her choices but still unsure which way to go.

Allow a computer to make the decision for her?

"I won't do it," the pharmaceutical sales agent said. "I don't want anything electronic telling me how to vote. … It will come from my heart."

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