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 |
|---|
| 0.46 | 1932 | Albert C. Ritchie | National Prohibition | Repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment as a matter of states' rights |
| 0.45 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | National Prohibition | Repeal the Eighteenth Amendment by state conventions; legalize beer now; states control liquor and bar the saloon |
| 0.44 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Unemployment insurance | Unemployment insurance under state laws |
| 0.42 | 1936 | Norman Thomas | Communism, radicalism and "alien isms" as a political issue | Keep the Socialist vote independent; chide the La Follettes for handing Roosevelt 'everything on a silver platter' |
| 0.41 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Independence of the Supreme Court | An independent Supreme Court secure from executive or legislative invasion; maintain the balance between States and nation |
| 0.38 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Amending the Constitution to enlarge (or restrain) federal power | Meet constitutional obstacles by 'clarifying amendment' -- and say nothing about the Supreme Court |
| 0.38 | 1936 | William E. Borah | Antitrust and concentration of economic power | Drive monopoly and price fixing out of the system or face governmental regimentation |
| 0.38 | 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 |
| 0.37 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | National Prohibition | Resubmit the Eighteenth Amendment so each state may decide, with constitutional guarantees against the saloon and against interference with dry states; enforce the law meanwhile |
| 0.36 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Federal responsibility for relief | Federal leadership in distress relief — federal credit to states whose resources are exhausted |
| 0.35 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Public ownership of electric power | Federal regulation of interstate power; opposition to government operation of the power business |
| 0.35 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Overall role and scale of the federal government | Preserve 'ordered freedom' and equality of opportunity; reject a state-controlled or state-directed economy as 'tyranny' |
| 0.34 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Income and inheritance tax progressivity | Raise revenue by graduated income, inheritance and profits taxes, not taxes on necessities |
| 0.34 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Regulation of securities issuance and exchanges | No federal 'blue sky' law — securities regulation belongs to the states, and the President should not police booms |
| 0.31 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Equal rights and opportunity for Black Americans | Equal opportunity for colored citizens: protect their economic status and personal safety; further their employment |
| 0.30 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Income and inheritance tax progressivity | Taxes levied according to ability to pay; lower taxes for 99 percent, higher at the top |
| 0.29 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Philippine independence | Gradual Philippine independence — economic independence first, with duty-free sugar cut from 600,000 tons downward every year |
| 0.28 | 1932 | Alfred E. Smith | Tariff levels | Endorsement of the Smoot-Hawley tariff |
| 0.28 | 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 |
| 0.27 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | Unemployment insurance | Compulsory unemployment insurance funded by employers and by higher income and inheritance taxes |
| 0.27 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Overall role and scale of the federal government | "A new deal for the American people" — work and security through liberal, planned government action |
| 0.27 | 1932 | Albert C. Ritchie | Federal responsibility for relief | States' rights and business-led recovery — no federal intervention in relief |
| 0.27 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Federal responsibility for relief | Relief through voluntary mobilization and local responsibility, with RFC loans to exhausted states — no federal dole |
| 0.26 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | International economic and monetary conferences | A world economic conference on monetary stabilization and trade, with an agricultural representative |
| 0.26 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | Equal rights and opportunity for Black Americans | Economic, political and legal equality for the Negro; a federal anti-lynching law; enforce the First Amendment |