The Vote Choice: Selecting Candidates

The second decision in voting involves a choice of a candidate to support with your vote or a decision on an issue of public policy. We’ll consider a decision about candidates first.

You’ve already made a plan to vote. However, you have to decide which candidates to support for all of the offices on the ballot. Political scientists note that there are three bases for the vote choice: (1) Party affiliation; (2) Issue positions of the candidates; and (3) candidate characteristics. 

If you’re affiliated with a political party (either party), then vote for the party with which you’re affiliated. The percentage of Texas registered voters that affiliate with the Republican Party of Texas is, according to the UT/Texas Tribune Poll of February 2024), approximately 37 percent (That does not consider Republican Leaning Independents [RLI] as partisans). According to the same poll, approximately 37 percent of Texas registered voters identify with the Democratic Party (same caveat about Democratic Leaning Independents [DLI]). That leaves 36 percent of registered voters who are Independents (identify with no political party on the first question in the party identification question).

Political scientists know that the strong partisan identifiers are most likely to vote for their party’s candidates (usually 80-90 percent). The so-called weak partisans are less likely to vote for their party’s candidates (75 percent or less). Actually, Independents who lean toward one of the political parties are more likely than weak partisans to support the candidates of the political party toward which they lean.

If you’re an Independent, you don’t have partisanship on which to cast your vote, which leaves two factors to shape your choice of candidates. Some voters choose political issues to determine their choice of candidates. The question then becomes: Which issue or issues are important to you? If you are only concerned about one issue, then you are a one-issue voter. Your vote is based on the candidate’s position on that issue in each contest. You only care about that one issue and cast your vote accordingly. However, if you care about several issues, it would be best to rank the issues, research the candidates’ positions on the issues, and then cast your vote for the candidate who most aligns with you on the issues.

Other non-partisans choose candidates based on the candidates’ personal characteristics. There are two methods of choosing candidates based on the candidate’s character. The older is James David Barber’s Presidential Character, which bases the vote on two factors: (1) Energy Level: How much effort the candidate puts into his work, and (2) Affect for the Job: How much a candidate enjoys his political office and her reason for seeking the job. The factors can be combined to produce four character types:

Active-Positive: A person devotes high levels of energy to her job and has high satisfaction from performing the duties of the job. Also, the person sought the job to help others.

Active-Negative: A person who devotes high levels of energy to her job but lacks satisfaction from the job. Performing the duties of the job is burdensome. Also, the person sought the job for personal reasons, usually to overcome a feeling of low self-esteem.

Passive-Positive: A person who puts little energy into performing the job but finds satisfaction in the job. The person sought the job to help others but expends little energy in performing the duties of the position. Instead, she delegates responsibilities of the position to others.

Passive-Negative: A person who puts little energy into the performing the duties of the office and considers the duties burdensome and not worthy of her efforts.

A more recent conception of character by Stanley A. Renshon considers three factors: Ambition, Integrity, and Relatedness. Ambition is the person’s desire to succeed. Ambition motivates a person to action. It’s uninhibited drive. Integrity places limits on a person’s ambition. Relatedness is a person’s relationship with others. It’s how a person views others who are close to her. Most recently, Renshon has woven in the idea of the times as important in the person chosen for his character. His analysis of Donald Trump provides a rich analysis of what makes him unique.

Another view of the personal basis of the vote choice hinges on the personal traits that people desire in a leader:

Apart from how they see the candidates on the issues, voters form images of the personal qualities and abilities of the candidates, and these perceptions are important influences on the vote. One important aspect of personal character is the perceived honesty and trustworthiness of the candidates—what might be termed an integrity dimension. Another important dimension, which might be termed competence, involves the experience and knowledge of the candidates; in particular, voters are unlikely to vote for someone whom they feel lacks the experience and ability to handle the job of president. A third important dimension involves the leadership ability of the candidates. Those who are perceived as strong and inspiring leaders are much more likely to be preferred by the voters. Finally, there is an empathy dimension; voters favor candidates whom they see as concerned and caring about people like them. These four dimensions of personal traits may vary in their importance; perhaps one of the dimensions will be particularly important in any given election, while another will be relatively unimportant in that election. (Italics added)