Personality or Policy
By Jim Lynch on Nov 20, 2007 in 2008
AP and Yahoo! are conducting a poll of more than 2000 people that will track their thinking and their changing attitudes during the 2008 elections.
One thing that struck me as I read the first article was the difference between Republicans and Democrats on the question of Personality vs. Policy.
Overall, the poll finds, Democrats are weighing personal traits more heavily than policy positions this election season; Republicans are putting greater emphasis on policy.
In a second story about the poll highlights they describe it this way:
Half of Democrats say candidates’ personal qualities are more important than their policy positions, compared with 42 percent who place more importance on issues.
Half of Republicans say issues are more important, compared with 43 percent who think personal qualities matter most.
Exceptions: Supporters of Giuliani and McCain think personal qualities are more important. And both get high marks for experience and strength.
Interesting. So what do you think? I’ve placed that question in the sidebar.
Sphere: Related ContentTags: 2008, polls
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When people went into the voting booths in November of 2000, they were given choices based upon the policies of the men running: what they’d do about taxes (cut them a lot or cut them a little, though most of us knew that Mr Gore was lying when he said he’d cut taxes at all), on what programs to spend money, and Supreme Court nominations. Virtually no one was thinking about which man would make the better commander-in-chief for a nation that had been struck by terrorists, but that was the choice we really needed to take.
We are electing a president (or any officer) less for what he says he’ll do about today’s issues, but on whom we can better trust to handle the unforeseen issues of tomorrow.
Dana | Nov 20, 2007 | Reply
Good point. You can not have good policies if you don’t trust the person supporting them has the honosty and integrity to carry them out.
Jim Lynch | Nov 20, 2007 | Reply