There may have been a time when a voter could confidently know that a Democrat would stand for one thing and a Republican another, but that certainly isn’t the case anymore. Former Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman spoke on Senator John McCain’s behalf at the Republican National Convention. Republican Senator Norm Coleman was a Democrat as mayor of St. Paul. Even conservative Republican icon Ronald Reagan was once a Democrat. Minnesota Majority’s 2007-2008 Legislative Scorecard ranked some House Republicans lower than some Democrats on traditional values issues. That’s why it’s more important than ever to know where the candidates stand and be prepared to vote based on principles instead of just blind party loyalty.

To help voters understand where the candidates stand on the issues, Minnesota Majority launched a new election awareness campaign called “Vote Your Values Minnesota”. The campaign was introduced with a new metro-area billboard featuring an undecided voter facing a choice between party and principle. The billboard directs people to the website, VoteYourValuesMN.org which includes a collection of resources to assist voters get informed this election season. Visitors to the site will find their legislators’ voting record, tools to find their polling place, getting registered to vote and information about the candidates on the ballot in their district among other things. A number of competitive House races are also spotlighted with side-by-side candidate comparisons on a variety of traditional values issues.