Project Vote Smart calls itself “The Voter’s Self-Defense System.” On its site, every candidate and elected official from President to local government can be easily and instantly accessed for:

• Voting Records — Compare what your representatives said during the campaign with how they actually voted on the record.

• Biographical & Contact Information — From their previous professions, education, families, organizational membership to their latest e-mail address, we gather it all.

• Issue Positions (NPAT) — We test thousands of candidates for President, Congress, Governor and State Legislature with our National Political Awareness Test (NPAT). The test accurately measures a candidate’s willingness to provide voters with their positions on the issues they will most likely face if elected to represent you.

• Interest Group Ratings — Over 150 competing special interest groups, from conservative to liberal, evaluate your representatives. Look at what they say.

• Public Statements — The Project constantly collects speeches and public comments of the president, governors, and congressional representatives. Just type in a word, say; ‘immigration’ and all public utterances containing the word ‘immigration’ will appear. Compare what they said while campaigning in California a few years ago to what they are saying now in New Hampshire.

• Campaign Finances — How much money did your representatives raise and from whom? Just follow the money and then follow the votes.

This is a valuable tool, especially considering the number of candidates running or considering running for their party’s Presidential nomination, and will become even more so once the race heats up. Check regularly to keep up on what the candidates actually say compared to what their opponents claim they say. Be an educated, informed voter, not a follower who votes according to what someone else tells them. This site will help.

Do you think other countries offer citizens such a storehouse of information to aid their intelligent voting decisions? Hardly. It’s yet another thing that goes in America’s “Good” column.

Remember to check out the other Patriotic Journeyers… JimK, Scott, Larry, Drumwaster, and Cosmicbabe.