Progressivism is not dead! (But it's on life support ...)

My kingdom for a real progressive candidate!

Perhaps you've heard of the Political Compass website, where you can take a test that places you on a grid based on the degree to which you are "left" or "right" on the economic scale as well as how socially libertarian or authoritarian you are.

I'm damn near as moonbatty as it gets: -6.50, -6.67, which puts me in, for lack of a better term, the "deep Southwest" of the grid.

Anyway, thanks to a recent article on London's TimesOnline, we can see how the 2008 U.S. presidential candidates fit on the grid.


Putting this into perspective, I'm about as far "southwest" of Mike Gravel as Gravel is of John Edwards. But I digress ...

The surprising, or perhaps not so surprising, point is that even most of the Democratic candidates fall in the upper right quadrant. So, the only truly progressive candidates are Gravel and Dennis Kucinich ... again, not much of a surprise.

Look, I understand that candidates have to appeal to a broad spectrum of American voters, but is it really that impossible or ridiculous for us to have a truly progressive candidate? Wouldn't the average American voter be more likely to be "southwest" of center rather than "northeast?" That's just a hunch, but if I'm right, then too many candidates, including most of those on the Democratic side, are missing the mark.

Here's another interesting comparison:Draw your own conclusions.

UPDATE (9:54 am 8/15/07): dirk gently shows us that, indeed, my hunch is correct. America is progressive. It's just that our candidates aren't.

UPDATE (12:19 am 8/16/07): Welcome to all the visitors from Crooks and Liars, and thank you for the link, Blue Gal! I hope you folks will stick around and see what the world looks like from the perspective of a DFH in America's Glans™! Maybe leave a comment or two while you're here ...

For example, no one covers Blowin' Bob Allen like Blast Off! does. :) Or maybe you'll be interested in what happens when religious freedom and animal cruelty intersect in Miami.

But thanks again for visiting ... don't be a stranger!

UPDATE (4:26 pm 8/16/07): Wow. Political Compass seems to be down. If you can't see the second image above, that's why. If you can see it, well, then, it's back up. I wonder if we had anything to do with their technical difficulties ...

Oh, well, in the meantime, until PC returns, you can laugh at the latest Florida Republican to be arrested. Or help me spread a nickname for Fred Thompson. Your choice.

UPDATE (5:23 pm 8/16/07): There's a new chart out there that pegs a number of current world leaders on the grid. Guess who's farthest to the upper right?

(h/t finding the filth)

UPDATE (5:41 pm 8/16/07): This may be the most-updated post ever on Blast Off! ... anyway, I fixed the second image, even though Political Compass still seems to be down. The image is smaller than it was, but still legible, I'm sure.

(h/t Mountain Philosopher, from whom I stole liberated the image)