Honesty the Best Policy for Presidential Hopefuls, According to Primary Study Date: March 10, 2000 By: Marianne Kunnen-Jones Phone: (513) 556-1826 Archive: Research News In the wake of Super Tuesday, the two men who want to be the nation's next president may want to focus on honesty, if they want to win. A presidential primary study by University of Cincinnati communication professor Judith Trent finds that, for the first time since she began studying the presidential primary in 1988, Americans rate "honesty" as the most important characteristic they seek in a presidential candidate. "I think this is obviously a reaction to a wide variety of factors, including Clinton's impeachment problems, public concerns over campaign finance reform, negative advertising and candidate assertions regarding their personal integrity," said Trent. She bases her conclusions on a survey of the public and the media that her team of researchers conducted in New Hampshire in the last days before that state's primary this year. Her previous studies occurred in 1988, 1992 and 1996. Her team found that across gender and age lines, both the public and the media agree that honesty is the No. 1 characteristic for the ideal candidate. In the last three presidential elections, the most desirable quality the public and the media sought in a presidential candidate was the ability to "talk about the nation's problems," according to Trent's earlier studies. But for the public and the media this year, that desire has become less important. Trent argues this may indicate America's general sense of economic confidence. "With no perceived economic or military threat, it may be that voters are focusing on issues of personal character." Trent also found that in keeping with 1996, the public continues to believe that high moral integrity is the third most important presidential characteristic. For the first time this year, Trent asked about party affiliation. For both the media and the public, it ranked near the bottom of the list. The public ranked it No. 11 and the media ranked it 10. UC STUDY: IDEAL PRESIDENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS The findings below are based on data collected in an ongoing research project aimed at determining the characteristics that voters find most important in a presidential candidate. The data for the 2000 presidential campaign was collected at 13 campaign events during the nine days leading up to the New Hampshire primary (Feb. 1, 2000). The total number of completed questionnaires was 665. Of those, 170 were completed by members of the media and 495 by the public. The breakdown of this sample by party affiliation was 219 Republicans, 171 Democrats and 275 Independents. The sample consisted of 373 males and 292 females. 2000 MEDIA 2000 PUBLIC 1. Honesty 1. Honesty 2. Talks about nation's problems 2. Talks about nation's problems 3. Has solutions to problems 3. Moral character 4. Moral character 4. Forceful public speaker 5. Remain calm, cautious 5. Remain calm, cautious 6. Forceful public speaker 6. Experience in office 7. Experience in office 7. Faithful to spouse 8. Energetic, aggressive leader 8. Has solutions to problems 9. Faithful to spouse 9. Energetic, aggressive leader 10. Major party member* 10. Younger than 65 years old 11. Younger than 65 years old 11. Major party member* 12. Male 12. Male *added for first time 1996 MEDIA 1996 PUBLIC 1. Talks about nation's problems 1. Talks about nation's problems 2. Honesty 2. Honesty 3. Forceful public speaker 3. Moral character 4. Has solutions to problems 4. Has solutions to problems 5. Remain calm, cautious 5. Remain calm, cautious 6. Moral character 6. Forceful public speaker 7. Experience in office 7. Energetic, aggressive leader 8. Energetic, aggressive leader 8. Faithful to spouse 9. Faithful to spouse 9. Experience in office 10. Younger than 60/65 years old 10. Younger than 60/65 years old 11. Male 11. Male 1992 MEDIA 1992 PUBLIC 1. Talks about nation's problems 1. TIE: Talks about nation's problems/Honesty 2. Honesty 2. TIE: see above 3. Experience in office 3. Has solutions to problems* 4. Has solutions to problems* 4. Moral character 5. Moral character 5. Remain calm, cautious 6. Remain calm, cautious* 6. Energetic, aggressive leader 7. Forceful public speaker 7. Forceful public speaker 8. Energetic, aggressive leader 8. Experience in office 9. Faithful to spouse 9. Faithful to spouse 10. Younger than 60/65 years old 10. Younger than 60/65 years old 11. Male 11. Male *added for first time 1988 MEDIA 1988 PUBLIC 1. Talks about nation's problems 1. Talks about nation's problems 2. Honesty 2. Honesty 3. Experience in office 3. Energetic, aggressive leader 4. Energetic, aggressivve leader 4. Forceful public speaker 5. Forceful public speaker 5. Moral character 6. Moral character 6. Faithful to spouse 7. Faithful to spouse 7. Experience in office 8. Younger than 60/65 years old 8. Younger than 60/65 years old 9. Male 9. Male