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 |
|---|
| 0.60 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Tariff levels | Maintain — and if necessary widen — the protective tariff; reject the Democratic 'competitive tariff for revenue' |
| 0.56 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Tariff levels | Preserve the bipartisan Tariff Commission's flexible power to adjust rates without congressional log-rolling |
| 0.55 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Tariff levels | A "competitive" tariff set through a scientific Tariff Commission, with anti-log-rolling rules and a public counsel |
| 0.51 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Executive reciprocal trade agreements (1934 Act) | Repeal the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act; return treaty power to the Senate and tariff-making to Congress |
| 0.45 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Farm prices and agricultural surplus | Raise staple farm prices by a tariff-equivalent benefit plus voluntary production control, at no cost to the Treasury |
| 0.43 | 1932 | Alfred E. Smith | Overall role and scale of the federal government | War on any candidate who makes 'demagogic appeals to the masses' setting class against class |
| 0.42 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Farm prices and agricultural surplus | Farm prices can be restored only by general recovery and markets — no production control, no subsidies; repeal Farm Board stabilization |
| 0.41 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Public works as employment policy | Public works spending is only a stopgap, not a cure for unemployment |
| 0.40 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Tariff levels | Revise the tariff downward through reciprocal trade agreements |
| 0.40 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | National Prohibition | Repeal the Eighteenth Amendment — the candidate preferring a binding national referendum |
| 0.40 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | European war debts and reparations | No cancellation of war debts; apply any annual payment to opening foreign markets for American farm products |
| 0.40 | 1932 | Newton D. Baker | League of Nations and international organizations | Do not make the League of Nations a party issue; no entry until a majority of Americans approve |
| 0.39 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Campaign finance and lobbying | Continuous publicity of political contributions; stronger Corrupt Practices Act; curb paid lobbies |
| 0.38 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | How to finance old-age and unemployment insurance (contributory reserve vs. pay-as-you-go) | Defense of the payroll-tax financing: the employer pays an equal share and the reserves are safe |
| 0.38 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | International economic and monetary conferences | A world economic conference on monetary stabilization and trade, with an agricultural representative |
| 0.37 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Gold standard and currency basis | Hold the gold standard and the 'honest dollar'; no fiat money, no 'rubber dollar' price-fixing |
| 0.37 | 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 |
| 0.37 | 1932 | Albert C. Ritchie | Federal responsibility for relief | States' rights and business-led recovery — no federal intervention in relief |
| 0.37 | 1936 | Frank Knox | How to finance old-age and unemployment insurance (contributory reserve vs. pay-as-you-go) | The Social Security Act is 'unworkable and unsound' -- 'lip service to security'; a Republican administration would offer its own legislation |
| 0.36 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | Independence of the Supreme Court | A Workers' Rights Amendment; curb the Supreme Court's power over Congress; proportional representation; direct election of the President |
| 0.36 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Public ownership of electric power | Federal regulation of interstate power; opposition to government operation of the power business |
| 0.36 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Concentrated economic power vs. the average citizen (rhetorical framing) | Take power from the 'economic royalists': the mandate of 1932 is to end economic tyranny |
| 0.36 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Tariff levels | Unconditional most-favored-nation treatment; no reciprocal bargains or preferences |
| 0.36 | 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 |
| 0.36 | 1936 | Earl Browder | Communism, radicalism and "alien isms" as a political issue | Popular Front: nominal opposition to Roosevelt, real opposition to Landon and 'fascism' |