A few dozen Valley residents stopped at lunchtime to test their knowledge of presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain at a booth set up by the political action group MoveOn on Wednesday, May 28, at Snoqualmie Ridge.

Passersby who took the “Bush-McCain Challenge” were asked whether given statements or policy positions pertained to McCain or the current president.

Steven Silverman, a volunteer with MoveOn.org Political Action in Snoqualmie, said he organized the “protest with a twist” to show people that McCain isn’t the political maverick he paints himself to be.

“A vote for John McCain is a vote for a third Bush term,” Silverman said, adding that nobody who took the five-question quiz got more than three answers correct.

Snoqualmie resident Rachelle Forbes tried her hand at the quiz while her children took balloons and candy from MoveOn volunteers.

“I thought it was very informative. I think I got maybe two right. I was very surprised. It’s kind of scary,” said Forbes, who plans to vote for the Democratic nominee in November.

She missed questions such as “Who promised that U.S. troops would be greeted as ‘liberators’ in Iraq?” (The answer: McCain.)

The quiz was conducted simultaneously in hundreds of towns across the country on May 28. Half a million people have tried it out online at www.bush-mccainchallenge.com.