1 WOULD TULSI GABBARD MAKE A GOOD PRESIDENT? An Empirical Study Robert W. McGee Fayetteville State University October 27, 2022 WORKING PAPER ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the prospects of Tulsi Gabbard as a future presidential candidate. She recently left the Democratic Party because it has become too radical, but she has not switched to the Republican Party. She is an Independent as of this writing, who has been campaigning for conservative republican candidates during the 2022 midterm election cycle. Her foreign policy positions sound conservative, or even libertarian. She is a strong defender of the Bill or Rights, or at least some sections of that document. She has kept quiet on most economic issues in recent months, although she supported socialist Bernie Sanders during the 2020 presidential campaign, leading one to speculate as to what her current economic thinking might be. The purpose of the present study is to try to determine where she “fits” in the current political landscape, and whether she might be a viable presidential candidate in the future. An empirical study was conducted to determine where she fits on some issues, using a subset of her congressional votes as the measuring device. She is ranked along with 89 other former or present members of Congress, both democrat and republican. Her score was identical to that of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [AOC], and was very close to those of several other members of “The Squad.” From a conservative perspective, she was slightly better than Joe Manchin and slightly worse than several RINOs [republicans in name only]. However, her past Congressional voting record may not be representative of her current thinking. Key Words: Tulsi Gabbard, president JEL Codes: D72 INTRODUCTION Two economists are at a party. The first economist asks the second economist, “How’s your wife?” The second economist replies, “Compared to what?” 1 1 Sorry I can’t provide a cite for this quote. I read something like this once upon a time and can’t remember the source.