Algorithm Names Powell 'Ideal' Vice President Candidate

CWmike writes "Turns out the ideal vice presidential candidate for Sen. John McCain is the same person as the ideal vice presidential candidate for Sen. Barack Obama, according to a sophisticated online survey based on technology developed at MIT. Mr. Ideal? Colin Powell, a former U.S. Army general and former secretary of state. Affinnova's survey methods doesn't use the typical polling method of asking respondents to pick a name from a list. Instead, it gives respondents larger concepts, including photos, biographical information and possible first-term priorities. Affinnova calls this algorithm 'evolutionary optimization.' Steve Lamoureaux, the company's chief innovation officer, said of the VP finding: 'We never imagined that the same candidate would show up for both parties.'"

Comments

An alternative they didn't seem to face

[Tanman]

is that their algorithm is severly flawed.

For example, most people - dem or rep - want responsible spending, national security, etc. Where the difference lies is in the road to take to get to that point. Any survey that says one of the primary party leaders would be the same person for either party is obviously in error.

nice theory, but for one small detail

[spirit_fingers]

This is a good example of why even the best algorithms are poor predictors of human behavior. Powell probably IS one of the best, if not THE best, choices for McCain's VP. If only the world could fit neatly into the parameters considered by the algorithm. It's just not going to happen. Powell is on record saying that his wife has vetoed him being on a Presidential ticket. Period. She has personal issues around it and it's simply not in the cards. End of story. And end-of-line for El Algorithmo.

Re:mmmkay

[Speare]

I've said it before, but it didn't seem like ANYONE reported on the timing of Colin Powell's shift to supporting the war. He was steadfastly the only administration dove, until the week that he gave very off-party-line comments defending affirmative action admissions policies in universities. It was like he was given a bone, allowed to speak his mind on university admissions, in exchange for future devotion to the hawk position on Iraq. I could just imagine the "come to Jesus meeting" that must have happened in 2003. That very week, I lost all respect for the man.

The Race Card. Re:Who does age matter to?

[Forge]

Not only am I playing the Race Card. I'm dealing it from the bottom of the deck :).

At the end of Gulf Wars episode one, a lot of Americans were suggesting Colin Powell for president. Then I went online and checked around. Turns out that most of them did not even know he was black.

I don't know what is going the rounds in America but where I live (a Caribbean country where over 90% of the population is at least part black). The popular fear is that if Elected Obama won't survive to inaugeration.

Giving him a black VP would mean bumping him off would still leave America with a Black President.

That calculation of course would just ruin the plans of whichever secret organization conspiracy nuts like this week.

Re:Makes sense...

[nmb3000]

Call me an elitist jerk all you want, but I think you should have to be a property owner to vote.

While what you're saying probably comes across as a step (or several) in the wrong direction to many people (it is very politically incorrect after all), I understand where you're coming from. It kind of reminds me of the political system at work in Heinlein's Starship Troopers. From that link:

...in the Terran Federation, the rights of a full Citizen (to vote, and hold public office) must be earned through voluntary Federal service. However, the franchise cannot be exercised until after honorable discharge from the Service, which means that active members of the Service cannot vote. Those residents who opt not to perform Federal Service retain the other rights generally associated with a modern democracy (e.g. free speech, assembly, etc.), but cannot vote or hold public office. This structure arose ad hoc after the collapse of the 20th century Western democracies, brought on by both social failures at home and military defeat by the Chinese Hegemony overseas (i.e. looking forward into the late 20th century from the time the novel was written in the late 1950s).

I don't know how well it would work in our situation, even just considering the difference in scale, but I do find it interesting. I admit I wish we had a system where people who have no idea what the issues are or what candidates (supposedly) claim to support don't vote, but finding and perfecting such a system would be impossible I think. We're doomed to have our future chosen largely based on the candidate that's thrown the most buzzwords around and has the worst^H^H^H^H^Hbest MySpace page.

(Oh, and has the strongest lobbyists. You want to seriously try and fix the system? Start with getting rid of them.)

Re:Who does age matter to?

[Strange Ranger]

Drive behind a 72 year old for awhile and see if you think you want them at the wheel of the country.

I'm sorry if that's harsh. We certainly do a lousy job honoring our senior citizens in this country. They should be much more respected and valued for what they've been through and what they have to offer. But they should also be less entitled than they are. Bad reflexes, an often fuzzy mind, a full pharmacy in their cupboard w/ all the side effects of that. And often a set of values that doesn't reasonably translate to the world of today. We could certainly find better ways to value and honor our most senior population, like making them an important part of the community, spending more time with them, not sticking them away in a home, etc. Blindly handing them the keys to cars or the White House, regardless of age, isn't respect, it's irresponsible appeasement.

If they want those things it's only sensible that they regularly pass the same tests a 30 year-old would have to pass for the same privileges. Being old doesn't give you the right to be dangerous. Proving your driving ability every 5 years starting at 65 or 70 is not the least bit unreasonable.

How about a 200 question *timed* multiple-choice test at a surprise time like 4am for eligibility for public office?
However it's done, testing a candidate's mental capacity and stamina would be quite helpful. The last 8 years would have been completely different.

Obama & Powell

[TiggertheMad]

I think you're missing the point, which is that Powell in some sense falls into both parties and this is WHAT makes him (at least according to this) such a good candidate.

And I think you hit the nail on the head there, but there might ba a deeper insight there.

Powell has always struck me as an excellent choice for a presidential candidate: He has spent time 'on the inside' in the whitehouse, so he understands the job. He does not aspire to power (or he covers it far better than most), he is intelligent, and he does not seem tied too closely to the idiology of either party. In short, a competent guy who isn't a professional politician.

Now, if a VP candidate has qualities like this that are desireable to the public at large without a strong tie to the political left or right, they will of course be desireable to both parties. The interesting thing is that qualities that make Powell an good candidate (intelligent, honest, outsider) are the same qualities that Obama seems to posess.

McCain is a war hero, and a passable senator but I think hes going to get stomped in November. An interesting election would have been if the Republican had put up Powell.