"Top Ten" List for Judging Candidates Holds Steady for Nearly Two Decades

Americans’ 2004 “Top Ten” list ranking of what voters want in a president, in order of importance, is:

1. Honesty
2. Has solutions to the country’s problems
3. Moral integrity
4. Emphasis on corporate responsibility
5. Forceful speaker
6. Remains calm
7. Has experience as an elected official
8. Energetic
9. Military experience
10. Willing to discuss his religion

The “Top Ten” list of presidential characteristics important to Americans has changed little since 1988, according to surveys conducted every presidential year by Judith Trent, professor of communication at the University of Cincinnati.  In fact, the “top three” qualities – honesty, solutions and moral integrity – have not budged in their respective positions despite crisis and challenge, economic shifts, demographic and population changes as well as changing societal mores in the last two decades.

“In other words, voters seem to have in their heads a picture of an ideal presidential candidate, and this ideal has remained virtually the same across elections despite changes in the demographic composition of the public,” according to Trent.  She added, “Voters don’t seek perfection.  Gaffes don’t matter.  New Hampshire, on the other hand, matters tremendously to candidates in terms of funding and media attention.  It’s where ‘retail campaigning’ still occurs in this country.  It’s one of the few places where it’s done in the U.S., and that’s one of the reasons New Hampshire is the ideal locale for our longitudinal survey.”

Trent and a team of colleagues – including Maribeth Metzler, UC assistant professor of communication, as well as Paul Mongeau of Arizona State University, Cady Short-Thompson of Northern Kentucky University and Jimmie Trent of Miami University – hit many New Hampshire campaign events in order to see every candidate during the week just prior to that state’s make-or-break primary.  Their mission was to survey both citizens and media as to the most important qualities of the ideal president. 

In January, Trent canvassed New Hampshire events with UC colleague Maribeth Metzler and NKU colleague Cady Short-Thompson, and they collected 658 citizen surveys and 192 media surveys.  There are slight, but not terribly dramatic, differences of what voters judge to be important by virtue of their age, gender and party affiliation.  For instance, younger people tend to rate moral integrity as slightly less important than do older voters, while women tend to rate moral integrity as slightly more important than do men.  In addition, Republicans tend to rate experience more highly than do Democrats and Independents, while Democrats and Independents – in turn – tend to rate an emphasis on corporate responsibility more highly than do Republicans.

In contrast to some popularly held perceptions, there seems to be no “liberal” bias among the media surveyed.  Said Trent, “There’s very little difference between what media say they want and what the public says it wants.  There are actually more differences between the genders and along lines of party affiliation.”   

In their work, the researchers obtain insight not only into what voters are seeking but into the candidates themselves.  Recalled Metzler, “I can remember sitting and watching [John] Edwards for the umpteenth time and thinking, ‘He’s going to smile now.  He’s going to gesture now.’  I was right because I’d observed him over and over again.”

The size of the 2004 New Hampshire crowds was one thing that differed from their research visits in past years.  “This year,” explained Trent, “there were huge numbers of people at the events.  Much more so than in years past.  We were constantly going into overflow rooms at event after event.  It’s a question as to what this means.  Is it that Democrats are angry at the president and really want to win?”

Also new in 2004:  Every candidate has his stable of celebrities.  Said Metzler, “Howard Dean introduced Martin Sheen as ‘President Bartlett,’ quite the blending of politics and popular culture, of reality and fantasy.  I even got to meet Carole King while handing out surveys!  Glenn Close stumped for Edwards, and Mary Steenburgen for Wesley Clark.”