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 |
|---|
| 0.45 | 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 |
| 0.43 | 1936 | William E. Borah | Federal anti-lynching legislation | Oppose the Wagner-Costigan federal anti-lynching bill as unconstitutional; attack party leaders who promise it |
| 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 | 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 |
| 0.40 | 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 |
| 0.36 | 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 |
| 0.36 | 1932 | Alfred E. Smith | National Prohibition | Outright repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment — the issue Roosevelt was downplaying |
| 0.36 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Overall role and scale of the federal government | Government as a check on concentrated economic power — "individualism" redefined as equality of opportunity |
| 0.36 | 1932 | Alfred E. Smith | Tariff levels | Endorsement of the Smoot-Hawley tariff |
| 0.35 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Communism, radicalism and "alien isms" as a political issue | Repudiate Communist support; the New Deal is the answer to Communism, not its ally |
| 0.34 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Antitrust and concentration of economic power | Use the full power of the federal government to break up private monopolies and enforce the antitrust laws 'without fear or favor' |
| 0.33 | 1932 | Newton D. Baker | European war debts and reparations | Entry into the World Court and cancellation of the war debts (the record that made him 'politically unpopular') |
| 0.33 | 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 |
| 0.33 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Neutrality, arms embargoes and staying out of foreign wars | Keep the United States out of war: true neutrality, take the profits out of war, no political commitments |
| 0.32 | 1936 | Frank Knox | Overall role and scale of the federal government | Fair, honest, economical and efficient government; preserve free enterprise against 'amateur economic planners' |
| 0.32 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Public ownership of electric power | Federal regulation of interstate power; opposition to government operation of the power business |
| 0.31 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | National economic planning | Industry leaders to organize cooperatively for the common good; government regulates only as a last resort |
| 0.31 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | European war debts and reparations | Cancel the war debts (against cancellation of reparations) and raze the tariff wall |
| 0.29 | 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 |
| 0.29 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | National Prohibition | Repeal the Eighteenth Amendment — the candidate preferring a binding national referendum |
| 0.29 | 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 |
| 0.28 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Working hours and labor standards | Revive the NRA's principles 'by one device or another' (imputed; the President would not say) |
| 0.27 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Federal action against organized crime and narcotics | Rigid federal penal laws against gangsters, racketeers and kidnappers; relentless war on narcotics |
| 0.27 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | National economic planning | National economic planning on the model of the 1917 war mobilization |
| 0.27 | 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 |