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 |
|---|
| 0.72 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Tariff levels | Preserve the bipartisan Tariff Commission's flexible power to adjust rates without congressional log-rolling |
| 0.68 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Tariff levels | A "competitive" tariff set through a scientific Tariff Commission, with anti-log-rolling rules and a public counsel |
| 0.63 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | National Prohibition | Repeal the Eighteenth Amendment by state conventions; legalize beer now; states control liquor and bar the saloon |
| 0.62 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Tariff levels | Maintain — and if necessary widen — the protective tariff; reject the Democratic 'competitive tariff for revenue' |
| 0.60 | 1932 | Albert C. Ritchie | National Prohibition | Repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment as a matter of states' rights |
| 0.58 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Tariff levels | Revise the tariff downward through reciprocal trade agreements |
| 0.57 | 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Executive reciprocal trade agreements (1934 Act) | Continue the reciprocal trade agreements to lower barriers against American exports |
| 0.56 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Tariff levels | Unconditional most-favored-nation treatment; no reciprocal bargains or preferences |
| 0.56 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | European war debts and reparations | No cancellation of the war debts — make payment possible by restoring trade |
| 0.55 | 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 |
| 0.55 | 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 |
| 0.54 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Amending the Constitution to enlarge (or restrain) federal power | Wages, hours and child labor by State law and interstate compact -- and a constitutional amendment giving the States power if the courts forbid |
| 0.53 | 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 |
| 0.52 | 1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Adherence to the World Court | Adhere to the World Court; arbitration of disputes; consultation to enforce the Kellogg-Briand Pact |
| 0.52 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Regulation of securities issuance and exchanges | Keep federal regulation of securities marketing and interstate utilities, vested in independent tribunals under definite standards subject to court review |
| 0.51 | 1932 | Alfred E. Smith | Tariff levels | Endorsement of the Smoot-Hawley tariff |
| 0.51 | 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 |
| 0.51 | 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 |
| 0.51 | 1932 | Alfred E. Smith | National Prohibition | Outright repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment — the issue Roosevelt was downplaying |
| 0.50 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Right to organize and bargain collectively | Collective bargaining by representatives of the employees' own choice, 'without the interference of any one' |
| 0.49 | 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 |
| 0.49 | 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Public ownership of electric power | Federal regulation of interstate power; opposition to government operation of the power business |
| 0.48 | 1932 | Norman Thomas | European war debts and reparations | Cancel the war debts (against cancellation of reparations) and raze the tariff wall |
| 0.48 | 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 |
| 0.48 | 1936 | Alf Landon | Unemployment insurance | Leave unemployment insurance to State experiment; no federal tax to compel it |