Do you vote based on how you feel about the personal moral character of the candidate or the policies they represent? And what do you do when those two things contrast each other in one candidate — when negative personality conflicts with a positive platform?
The 2016 presidential election saw lesser-of-two-evils voting sweep the nation. Few people fervently supported Donald Trump until he presented himself as the only viable option to Hilary Clinton and the rest of the political establishment. His rise came not on his accomplishments, personality, or winsomeness but on his ability to present himself as the antidote — he didn’t taste good, but he wasn’t the poison the he claimed everyone else to be.
Four years later, we find ourselves in a similar spot. Only this time, the Democrat says he’s the antidote. Joe Biden’s platform can be summed up in three words: I’m not Trump. And again, conservatives find themselves in a frustratingly familiar dilemma. The personality they chafe against represents the policies they support while the policies they hate are touted by a personality that is, at least comparably, tolerable if not at times likeable.
When we find ourselves in this situation, shouldn’t we know which way to lean? Shouldn’t the conscience so many of us claim to vote with tell us whether personality or policy takes priority? When we walk into voting booths, we should bring with us the confidence that says, “I know who I’m voting for, but more importantly, I know why.”
Voting for a Person
The argument for voting for the person is based on the notion that when we vote, we are electing people to represent us — literally the people that will be the face of our nation. And when it comes to President, we’re selecting someone to go to other countries on our behalf.
In this mode of thinking, how could we vote for someone we neither respect nor trust? We can only judge someone’s character based on the limited personal information we have. But if, knowing what we know, we find ourselves full of respect for and trust in a candidate, particularly in their judgment, then we can go into a voting booth feeling confident we’re making a good decision.
Even if this candidate has policies we may disagree with, judgment matters immensely. Because once they’re in office, they’ll have more information on every situation and decision than we could ever understand. And if we can trust them to make the right choices, and respect them even when they do something we may disagree with, a vote for that person seems well spent.
The major flaw of this approach, of course, is that judging someone’s character is far more difficult than we’d like to admit. All too many times we’ve seen elected figures seemingly morph into someone else after gaining power. Even political figures who have been in the spotlight for a long time can pull the wool over the public’s eyes. Good politicians are particularly good at presenting themselves in ways that conceal their character flaws.
Voting for a Policy
At the end of the day, the politicians we elect represent us. They are our surrogates. When it comes to passing laws and enacting legislations, we should put our votes behind people who will do what we would do in the same situation. Why do their morals matter if we know that they’re going to vote the way we want them to vote, or if they’re going to support the initiatives we want to see supported?
If we’re sending politicians to Washington D.C. to get things done, then they better have interests aligned with our own. Sure, we want them to be good people, but there’s nothing wrong with ignoring some personality flaws as long as they prove they can consistently do right by the voters they represent. Not only that, but this litmus test is so much easier to judge than a person’s character and morality.
Who knows if someone is who they say they are? Deep down, we don’t know the true face of any public figures, so why should we bother trying? Instead, let’s look at their policy positions and voting records to see what they’ll do once in office. With this approach, it’s easy to walk into a voting booth knowing exactly how aligned we are with a candidate’s positions and knowing that our voice will be heard because our vote speaks for us.
Look, neither of these arguments is fully wrong or right. This question poses no easy answers. But isn’t that what makes democracy great? You can vote for your candidate for your reason, I can vote for my candidate for a different reason, and we can both be doing right by the system.
If we’re paying attention to the words a candidate speaks, the actions that follow, the beliefs they claim, and the positions they support, then we’re doing our best to make the best choice. Choose your person. Choose your policies. And when you can’t find both in the same candidate, choose the one you think will be more impactful in the end.