A new type of test has been developed, that can detect your true feelings, better than you can rationalize them. It is called the Implicit Association Test or IAT. It was created by sociology and psychology experts at Harvard, who hosts the main site for the tests online: Project Implicit. The current Featured Task is the Presidential Candidates task. I took the test, and Barack Obama ended up way up on top, John McCain was down in the lower middle, and both Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee were dead last.
I guess that just proves that I really think, on a deep level, that Barack Obama can actually come through on his promises of a better tomorrow. It also reflects my conservative roots a bit, and my respect for John McCain as a past leader in campaign finance reform. I tend to perceive both Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee as special interest lackeys -- Hillary to her corporate lobbies, and Huckabee to the right-wing "religion means do what I say, not what I do" style of nut-jobs. Even though Hillary is on the bottom of my IAT list, I may have to rationalize a vote for her if she is the Democratic nominee, just because I think the war is such an urgent problem to end. If John McCain changed his mind about the war (and he has changed his mind on policies in the past, based on new evidence, unlike most Republicans) I might be more likely to believe him than Hillary, and that would definitely change my vote, if Barack Obama is not in the general election.
The problem with the IAT is that it does tend to reveal tendencies towards racism in people, and other ugly aspects, that they try to rationalize away. A lot of people might end up taking this test and thinking they like the white guys more, because they are deeply racist or sexist in a way that doesn't reflect their rational thoughts. A lot of people might end up associating Hillary with a "good woman" or "mother" type, despite her mixed history in politics and corporate law. Poor reactions to Barack Obama may be revealed by the IAT test, as just part of a racist or inherently distrustful upbringing. The IAT test is designed specifically to bring out your knee-jerk, automatic, visceral reactions. The IAT is about getting past your rational thought, and bringing out your true prejudices, good or bad.
I encourage everyone to try out the IAT test, to learn a bit more about themselves. Just take the results with a heavy grain of salt, and don't let it change your more rational, pensive judgements about the candidates. Barack Obama may be my own knee-jerk choice, but he is also the rational choice for President.
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