on the issues was linked from MeFi a few days ago and looks to be a fairly comprehensive site.

re: net neutrality - stoller @ openleft has a quick rundown.

on the issues

Thanks. That is a good site...

I never hear much about specifics (or I'm not paying much attention, which is mostly true).

It's not really your fault. It's difficult to report on specifics on TV, the radio, or in newspapers. Really, the only people who hear specifics live in NH or Iowa.

The "best" stance is going to depend on what you're looking for. You have to read their websites (ignore the front page and go straight to their policy position pages), then investigate with sources like Project Vote Smart. Here's there page on the current presidential election.

I like to look at how partisan and non-partisan organisations rate each candidate on the organization's pet issue. Here's the relevant page for Senator Clinton (as an example - no endorsement, she was the first candidate on the page). Of course, you want to pick candidates that are strongly rated by special interest groups you agree with, or candidates that are rated very low by special interest groups you don't support. This doesn't help with specific issues, but it is helpful to see, for example, that Clinton scored a 92% rating with the Public Citizen's Congress Watch, while Obama scored a 69%.

You can also use that site to look at their congressional voting record and (perhaps most helpful), their public speeches and statements.

(my comment is most helpful with their position on "hot button" issues like abortion, the environment, and foreign policy. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the public consideres net neutrality to be a hot-button issue)

the only people who hear specifics live in NH or Iowa

To be fair, we (in NH) don't just hear them floating in the air. We have to read them in the papers and or make reservations and wait on the lines to go to the events to hear them, and then people generally supplement their knowledge by watching Hardball or other coverage on TV and looking at platforms online.

I say this just because understanding candidates' positions takes work no matter where you live. Issue positions and platforms are too detailed to get in-depth reporting in mass media which has dozens of other stories to report and a short attention span.

Very cool that you're asking this, DarkForest!

With a Prez it's much tougher, but with legislators my stance is moving away from wondering who is the best candidate. Instead I'm always wondering how groups of people concerned about specific issues can form voting blocs (or join existing ones.)

Ideally, it shouldn't matter what the candidate's stances are. The representative should exist in office ONLY to reflect the views of his/her constituents. Politicians should only be puppets, and we should be pulling their strings.

That's DEMOCRACY.

This may seem idealistic, but it gets easier every day with the mass communication afforded by the Internet.

Corporations should NOT be the puppeteers. And anyway, votes trump the dollars of the huge profit-motivated lobbies--if a politician cannot stay in office, it doesn't matter how many $$ he gets from the lobbies telling him/her what to do IN office. Well-organized grassroots organizations always trump massively-funded corporations, at least when the grassroots groups are truly active at lobbying and electioneering.

It's a different way of looking at things, no?

But, yeah, the presidency is still a different beast--but maybe not forever.