Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 01:53 pm
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders got perfect scores while Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio all earned zeroes on the first ever persons with disabilities voter scorecard.
The group RespectAbility has released the first ever voter scorecard for persons with disabilities.
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According to RespectAbility, “The scorecard asked all of the presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle to comment on 16 disability questions. Candidates earned points if they had a plan on an issue regardless of the substance of that plan. Former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders tied with a 100 percent score and former Gov. Jeb Bush resoundingly led the Republican field with a 94 percent score. While there are three candidates with extremely high scores, they have dramatically different ideas about how to deal with the issues. It’s extremely important to read to their full answers so that you can understand their important differences. Issues in the detailed scorecard include employment, stigma, education, safety, transportation, housing, healthcare, foreign affairs and other issues. Several of the candidates did not yet take the time to fill out the scorecard, signaling their lack of initial commitment to the issues and causing them to score zero percent. Dr. Ben Carson and Gov. Chris Christie filled out parts of the scorecard.”
Among the candidates who showed a lack of respect to the disabled community by not filling out a scorecard were Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, and Martin O’Malley. All of the above candidates scored a zero.
Twenty percent of US voters have a disability, and 52% of voters have a loved one with a disability. In total, 56 million Americans have a disability. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders understand the importance of issues that matter to the differently abled community. Not surprisingly, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have yet to show that they care or that they have a plan to address the economic and social issues that impact differently abled Americans and their families. In the case of Trump, the Republican frontrunner has made a habit out of mocking disabled members of the media.
Differently abled voters have the potential to be a powerful voting bloc, and RespectAbility’s voter scorecard is a key step in unifying the political power of the disabled community.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
