Work in progress — cycles are added one at a time. Every quote is machine-verified against an archived source; follow the links to read it.
| Score | Cycle | Candidate | Issue | Position |
|---|
| 0.73 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Federal responsibility for relief | Federal leadership in distress relief — federal credit to states whose resources are exhausted |
| 0.70 | 1932 | Albert C. Ritchie | Federal responsibility for relief | States' rights and business-led recovery — no federal intervention in relief |
| 0.61 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Politics and patronage in relief administration | Relief will continue, but purged of politics, administered locally on merit, with economies taken from 'the political exploiters' |
| 0.59 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Local government consolidation and the tax burden on land | Presidential leadership to consolidate local governments and lift the tax burden on land |
| 0.58 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Regulation of banks and securities | The RFC and the 'shield of Government credit' saved 5,000 institutions and must continue — but no direct government lending to everyone |
| 0.58 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Direct relief for the unemployed | Provide useful work at prevailing wages for the needy unemployed rather than a dole |
| 0.58 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | National economic planning | Industry leaders to organize cooperatively for the common good; government regulates only as a last resort |
| 0.57 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Reorganization of the executive branch | Consolidate the seven federal farm-mortgage agencies under a single purpose |
| 0.57 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Maintenance of wage levels in depression | Uphold wages and spread work by voluntary agreement of employers and labor; shorter hours in government service |
| 0.56 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Unemployment insurance | Leave unemployment insurance to State experiment; no federal tax to compel it |
| 0.54 | 1932 | John Nance Garner | Regulation of banks and securities | RFC loans to individuals and corporations generally — 'the Government into personal banking' (the Rainey bill) |
| 0.54 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Public works as employment policy | Federal construction at three times normal and $1.5 billion of RFC loans for self-liquidating works — but no pork-barrel or non-productive projects |
| 0.54 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Railroad regulation and consolidation | Six-point railroad program — conditional federal support, receivership reform, ICC regulation of trucks and holding companies, consolidation |
| 0.54 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | Federal responsibility for relief | A $5 billion federal appropriation for immediate relief of those in need |
| 0.53 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Civil service and patronage | Immediately extend the merit system to all non-policy-making federal positions |
| 0.53 | 1936 | Alf Landon | How to finance old-age and unemployment insurance (contributory reserve vs. pay-as-you-go) | Repeal the compulsory old-age insurance plan; pay every needy citizen over 65 a pension from a direct, widely distributed tax |
| 0.52 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Regulation of utility rates and holding companies | Eight-point federal utility program: publicity, Federal Power Commission control of holding companies, prudent-investment rate base |
| 0.52 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Public works as employment policy | Public works spending is only a stopgap, not a cure for unemployment |
| 0.52 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Drought and disaster relief for farmers | Pay every outstanding AAA check and continue drought relief checks and seed loans |
| 0.51 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Conservation of natural resources | Real soil conservation and a national land-use and flood-prevention program run with the States and 'out of politics' |
| 0.51 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Unemployment insurance | Unemployment insurance under state laws |
| 0.51 | 1936 | William Lemke | Minimum wages | A 'living annual wage' -- $1,800 for a family of five -- by federal law and a constitutional amendment if necessary |
| 0.50 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Level of federal spending | Cut federal spending $1.5 billion below fiscal 1932 and reorganize the executive branch |
| 0.50 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | Public ownership of major industries | Transfer the principal industries — banking, natural resources, utilities — to social ownership by compensation, not confiscation |
| 0.50 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Local government consolidation and the tax burden on land | A national review of federal-state-local taxation to relieve farms and homes of property taxes |