Why we called it Parley
In pirate code, to invoke parley was to call a formal truce with an enemy. You met under a flag of honor, spoke honestly, and no one got hurt. The word comes from the French parler, “to speak”, and is the same root behind “parliament.” For centuries, diplomats have used it for the same thing: a meeting between opposing sides, conducted under rules of respect.
That's the deal we're offering voters. Left, center, right, everyone gets the same facts laid out on the same deck. No editorial thumbs on the scale. No endorsements. Just the code: speak honestly, listen fairly, decide for yourself.
How the app was built and where the data came from.
This app does not endorse candidates. It exists to help any New Hope or Solebury voter get informed about who is on their ballot, from three perspectives, with sources for everything.
The core promise
This app doesn't have endorsed candidates. Only YOUR candidates. Every candidate is presented with pros, cons, controversies, and fact-checks. Every controversy is shown three ways, how the Left typically reads it, how the Right typically reads it, and what the independent / mainstream fact-checker record shows. You make your own mind up.
Three views, how they're built
For every candidate, there are three short summaries: how the Left sees them, how the Right sees them, and what the independent record shows. For every controversy or fact-check, the same three-view treatment applied to that specific claim.
The Left and Right views attempt to state, in good faith, how a reasonable partisan from that side would actually interpret the facts, not a straw-man. The Independent view sticks to what multi-outlet, mainstream reporting and fact-checkers have documented.
Fact-checks & extremism flags
Every claim has a source URL. Where authoritative sourcing is missing, the claim is omitted, not implied. Extremism flags require documented, multi-outlet mainstream reporting. Empty sections are left empty; the app does not invent symmetry.
Optional values-match quiz
Completely optional. If you take it, the app ranks candidates by how well they match the issues, hopes, and frustrations you selected, with every per-issue contribution visible. It's a personalization tool, not a recommendation engine. Skip it and the app still gives you full candidate profiles.
Under the hood: candidates are profiled across ~25 signal dimensions. Your quiz answers build a signal vector. Dot-product with each candidate, normalized to 0–100. The top drivers of each match are always shown.
Public win-probability bar
Heuristic, not a forecast. Combines partisan lean (Cook PVI where available), prior margins, incumbency, polling when it exists, fundraising, endorsements, and national environment. Compass, not a GPS.
Privacy
Nothing leaves your computer. Quiz answers live in the browser's localStorage. The Clear my quiz answers button wipes them at any time.
Editing this app
Entire app is one HTML file. All data is in JavaScript objects near the top of the embedded script. Edit candidate bios, pros, cons, tripartisan views, or claim perspectives directly in the file, save, reload. No build step.