VoteMatch Goes for President

VoteMatch Goes for President

AMSTERDAM, January 2/PRNewswire/ -- VoteMatch (http://www.stemwijzer.nl) is back online in the Netherlands, starting today. Not for Dutch elections this time, but for the presidential race in the United States. For and in collaboration with Dutch public TV news and current affairs program Een Vandaag, the Institute for Public and Politics (IPP) has developed a special VoteMatch USA website (http://www.VoteMatchUSA.org).

Based on 25 statements addressing major election themes like the war in Iraq, taxes, same-sex marriage, abortion and gun control, VoteMatch USA reveals which presidential candidate - Republican or Democrat - is closest to your position. The site also provides a good overview of the key issues on which the battle for the most powerful job in the world is being fought.

America chooses its new President on November 4th this year. Een Vandaag will be providing regular and extensive coverage of the race for Dutch viewers. And VoteMatch, the most popular website in the Netherlands during election periods, complements that coverage by supplying visitors with accessible information about the policies of the main candidates.

The US election campaign is about to step up a gear, with the Iowa primaries on January 3rd and those in New Hampshire following later this month. VoteMatch USA features the eight candidates revealed by reliable polls to be likely to attract more than 10 percent of the vote. On the Republican side they are Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. For the Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards are the most serious contenders.

VoteMatch USA is not just for Dutch users with an interest US politics. For Americans living in the Netherlands, and indeed for all English speakers, a translated version is available at http://www.VoteMatchUSA.org. All the VoteMatch polls are available at http://usa.eenvandaag.nl and http://www.stemwijzer.nl.

The US presidential race is an elimination contest. So, as candidates drop out, VoteMatch USA will be updated to reflect the latest situation. The final version will appear in late August, once the Democratic and Republican party conventions have selected their candidates for the election itself.

Source: Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek

For more information, please contact: Petra Spaninks, Coordinator, EenVandaag: +31-356-715842 or +31-653-864660; Nico Bloot, Head of Communications, IPP: +31-616-934592; Jochum de Graaf, Project Leader, VoteMatch: +31-624-267886.

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