We've forgotten how
to talk to each other.
Take a Gut Check
We've become rabid fans, not responsible citizens—screaming for home teams that might not really be playing for US.
The uncle you can't talk to anymore. The cousin you unfriended. The dinner table that used to feel like home is now a dreaded obligation.
We used to disagree and still hug goodbye.
Now we've stopped talking about what candidates actually do and started fighting about what team they play for. We worship the jerseys, the hats, the rallies—even when our side might not be playing for us at all.
Algorithms feed us what we believe. The media keeps us good and angry. And charismatic personalities keep us loyal.
Branded by design from both sides to play us as drums. Because calm conversation doesn't go viral. Rage does.
This isn't an accident.
It's a very successful
business model.
They chose us. Now you choose.
Take a Gut CheckOur political "team" wasn't chosen by us.
We were shaped by where we grew up, who raised us, what we've been through, and what we let into our heads. All of it pulled us toward a side—long before we ever asked if that side actually plays for us.
🏠 Where we come from
- › Where we grew up
- › Childhood stability (or instability)
- › Schools and early environments
Research: Harvard Business School · Psychology Today · NIH
🛤️ Life experience
- › Jobs we've had
- › Struggles we've faced
- › How safe or vulnerable we've felt
- › Travel and exposure to people unlike us
Research: Oxford Academic · Pew Research
👥 Our circles
- › Friends and family
- › Neighbors and coworkers
- › Communities we belong to
- › Social pressure to conform
Research: Nature/NIH · WashU · Stanford
🪞 Identity
- › Race and ethnicity
- › Religion (or lack of it)
- › Gender and sexual orientation
- › How we've been treated
Research: MDPI · The Conversation · NIH
💰 Economic reality
- › Income level and financial security
- › Debt, renting, or owning
- › Upward mobility or feeling stuck
- › Job loss and economic shocks
Research: EconoFact · ScienceDirect
📺 The noise we let in
- › News sources we trust (or don't)
- › Social media algorithms and filter bubbles
- › Podcasts, shows, and influencers
- › Echo chambers we choose (or are chosen for us)
Research: Reuters Institute · Springer · Northeastern
What If You Could Find Your Real Team?
Not the team you inherited. Not the team social media assigned you.
A team that actually represents what you truly value and believe.
Really. Know. Thyself.
Take a Gut Check26 Questions. Find Your Real Team.
No party labels. No team names. Just policies and values. Takes 3 minutes.
Answer 26 Questions
When you're done, you'll know what you actually believe—maybe for the first time.
Meet Your 12-Person Team
Based on your values—not your party—we show you which politicians actually fight for what you believe.
Get Curious
Go learn about the people on your team. See if they deserve your support.
Take The Gut Check
26 Questions for 2026
What team swag are you wearing right now?
Pick where you think you land. We'll compare to your results.
Understanding Your Political DNA
Here's what your 26 answers reveal about your values, priorities, and where you fit in America's political landscape.
💡 Key Insights From Your Answers
Where You Defy Stereotypes
The interesting contradictions in your political profile
What This Means For You
Some politicians from the "other team" will match your values better than the stars of "your team." That's not a bug—it's the whole point of this exercise.
Your cross-partisan positions give you credibility with both sides. Use that to have real conversations—not to "win" arguments, but to understand and be understood.
Your roster shows who actually fights for your values. In primaries, consider these matches. In general elections, understand which major party is closer to your positions overall.
↓ Scroll down to meet the politicians who make your starting lineup ↓
🏆 Meet Your Teams
Politicians who fight for what you believe—at every level of government.
Based on your 26 answers. Some familiar. Some you've never heard of. That's the magic.
YOUR FEDERAL TEAM
National politicians, presidential candidates, and federal officials who align with your values
YOUR STATE TEAM
Senators, representatives, and state officials from your state who fight for your values
Level the Playing Field
These candidates don't have billion-dollar war chests or cable news coverage. But based on your answers, they might represent you better than anyone you've ever heard of.
🚫 No Democrats. No Republicans. Just ideas that might align with yours.
🔍 Do your own research. These are starting points, not endorsements.
Your Local Representatives
City council, school board, mayors—the people who affect your daily life the most. Use these tools to find and research them.
💡 Pro tip: Local elections often have turnout under 20%. Your vote matters most where fewer people show up.
Your Team Can Change. So Can You.
Politicians change. Their positions evolve. New candidates emerge. And you might change too as life happens.
Bookmark this page. Come back before every major election to retake this gut check and see if your team still represents who you've become.
Gut Check USA
Check yourself before every election.
📊 Your team is assembled from 429 politicians matched against your 26 answers. Each profile is personalized to your specific values.
Are You Wearing the Right Jersey?
You predicted where you'd land. Now let's see if the team you've been cheering for actually plays for you.
Calculating your prediction accuracy...
😲 Surprise Additions
Politicians on your team you might not have expected:
🚫 Missing In Action
Politicians you might have assumed would be on your team:
📋 The Scouting Report
Your answer to each of the 26 questions—and what it says about your political playbook.
📅 Next Major Elections
📢 Take the Field
Find your representatives, register to vote, and make your voice heard.
🗳️ Find Local Election Resources
Enter your zip code to get curated resources for your area.
We can't match you to local candidates (they don't have voting records to analyze), but we can point you to the best research tools.
Resources for Your Area
These official and nonpartisan sources can help you research local candidates and issues.
Why can't we match local candidates? Most local officials don't have public voting records, policy positions databases, or enough documented stances to generate meaningful matches. The links above are your best bet for researching them yourself.
📢 Take the Field
Find your representatives and make your voice heard.
Why I built this:
I've been that guy—rage posting on social media. Sharing hot takes. Dunking on the other side. Then I turned that lens on myself:
What if I'm being played too? That question wouldn't leave me alone. So I built this.
Well — "built" is generous. One guy on his couch, using AI to make something he couldn't have made alone a year ago. With liberty and justice for all.
Disclaimer: no code was written or harmed by Todd Nolley in the making of this thing.
Questions, ideas, or just want to talk—hit me up:
Straight Talk on Privacy
No spin. No fine print. Here's exactly what this site does and doesn't do.
✅ What I DON'T do
I don't collect your quiz answers. I don't store your results. I don't use cookies to track you. I don't sell data—there's no data to sell. I don't run ads. I don't make money from this. Your answers live in your browser and disappear when you close the tab.
📊 What I DO track
We use Google Analytics with anonymized IPs to measure basic site performance—the same standard metrics every website tracks:
Page views and unique visitors · Average time on site · Bounce rate · Geographic region (city-level, not your address) · Device type and browser · Traffic sources (how you found this) · Page scroll depth · Quiz completion rate · Share button clicks
🤷 Why track anything?
This is a one-man passion project built on a couch in Milwaukee with AI. No budget, no team, no investors. The only reason I track performance metrics is to understand if this thing is actually reaching people—and to build an honest case study about what one person with AI can create. That's it.
No corporate entity. No political organization. No PAC. Just a guy who thinks we should be able to talk to each other again.
Report Bugs
Nobody's perfect. Especially a one-man band.
Look—it's me, myself, and AI building this thing on my couch in Milwaukee.
Not some political organization with deep pockets and a dev team. I've squashed as many bugs as one guy can, focus-grouped it with friends and family, but at the end of the day this is a punk rock effort.
So there will be bumps, bruises, and imperfections along the way. Do me a solid and report them here:
Or email directly: [email protected]
Sources & References
Political Identity Research
- Harvard Business School: Childhood Influence on Political Views
- NIH: Genetics and Political Orientation
- Pew Research: How Age Affects Voting Behavior
- Oxford Academic: Life Experience and Political Views
- Psychology Today: Childhood and Political Views
- Nature/NIH: Social Networks and Political Views
- WashU: How Peer Networks Influence Elections
- Stanford: Political Party Identities
- MDPI: Gender and Political Views
- The Conversation: How Gender Influences Voting
- EconoFact: Voting and Income
- ScienceDirect: Economic Conditions and Voting
- Reuters Institute: Echo Chambers and Polarization
- Springer: Media and Political Polarization
- Northeastern: Social Media and Polarization