Comments on: Which Presidential Candidate is the Biggest Idiot?

By: Iroquois

Iroquois — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:05:42 +0000

It also might depend on the political affiliation of the person making the judgment. If I say here that George Bush is an idiot (14,302) that’s pretty much to be expected and says more about my political tastes than it does about Bush. Sort of. If someone who posts on Little Green Footballs says George Bush is an idiot (14,303), that says something completely different. It says someone who shares Bush’s values thinks he is a poor torch-bearer for those values.

By: John Stracke

John Stracke — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:58:34 +0000

I think if you standardized these results by doing something like dividing by the number of appearances in mainstream news media sources, that might come close to addressing the issue you have in mind.

Right. Think about it: for any given candidate, no matter what they say, something like half the country will disagree with them; some portion of that half will decide that "I don't agree with X" means "X is an idiot". But most of those people won't be prompted to say "X is an idiot" online unless X is getting a lot of coverage. Another interesting index: how many people say X is a traitor? I suspect this one would be slanted by party, since Republicans seem to throw around accusations of treason more than Democrats do.

By: Peregrin Wood

Peregrin Wood — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 09:50:42 +0000

I think that Tom Tancredo qualifies as a really big idiot – especially after that incident with the League of the South.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 01:27:06 +0000

Well, George Bush IS an idiot.

Hey — make that 14,301!

By: Bob S-K

Bob S-K — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 01:20:00 +0000

And George Bush is still the king! 14,300.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:53:51 +0000

Oh, I don't think Ron Paul is a big idiot. I think he is a smart and well-meaning person in most parts of his personality, but he's got a couple of bizarre twists that muck it all up. Joe Biden is a pretty big-headed buffoon, but I don't know if that is the same as idiotic, either. Fred Thompson might fit, politically speaking... he just kinda floated around as a Senator, then left when he got tired of it, then left acting when he got tired of that, kinda, sorta. I think if you standardized these results by doing something like dividing by the number of appearances in mainstream news media sources, that might come close to addressing the issue you have in mind.