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The Voter’s Speakeasy featuring unbiased reporting and insight into life at Vote Smart from our staff, interns, and volunteers.

Louisiana Candidates Lack Courage

2011 October 19 - Carly Griffin

GREAT DIVIDE RANCH, Mont., October 19, 2011 - Project Vote Smart released the 2011 Political Courage Test results for Louisiana candidates today, showing only eleven percent (11%) of state legislative candidates were willing to provide their positions on key issues addressed inside the Test (See complete statistical results for state legislative candidates here). Among candidates for governor, Cary Deaton was the only candidate willing to answer questions posed by the Political Courage Test, which covers issue areas including education, abortion, crime, and the economy. Louisiana candidates' unwillingness to provide voters with their issue positions is part of a growing national trend, as Test response rates have steadily fallen from a high of seventy-two percent (72%) in 1996, to an all-time low of thirty-eight percent (38%) in 2010. Vote Smart has found that party leaders and consultants from both major parties are advising candidates not to respond to the Test for two primary reasons: it will limit the candidates' ability to control their campaign messages and it will expose them to opposition research. "When candidates decide to hide behind talking points and manipulative campaign tactics, they are contributing to a deliberate dumbing down of the American electorate," said Richard Kimball, Project Vote Smart President. "When you keep your opponent in the dark, you keep the voter there as well." Since 1992, the Political Courage Test has asked all candidates in every state one central question: "Are you willing to tell citizens your positions on the issues you will most likely face if elected?" Candidates ...

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Candidates Running in 2011 Lack Courage

2011 October 17 - Darren McDivitt

“It shouldn’t take courage for a politician to complete a survey regarding positions on issues. Yet seemingly it does.” – South Bend Tribune

Mississippi Candidates Unwilling to Answer Issue Questions

2011 October 13 - Carly Griffin

Kentucky Candidates for Governor Lack Courage

2011 October 13 - Carly Griffin

Virginia State Legislative Candidates Lack Courage

2011 October 13 - Carly Griffin

New Jersey State Legislative Candidates Lack Courage

2011 October 13 - Carly Griffin

Congressional Beginnings

2011 October 06 - Carly Griffin


West Virginia Candidates for Governor Lack Courage

2011 September 15 - Carly Griffin

Nevada Special Election Candidates Lack Courage

2011 September 09 - Carly Griffin

New York Special Election Candidates Lack Courage

2011 September 09 - Carly Griffin

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