Aversion to Other Candidate Key Factor in 2016 Vote Choice.
Byline: Lydia Saad
Synopsis: The lead reason U.S. registered voters give for their presidential choice this year is their disapproval of the opposing candidate. Many Clinton voters also mention her experience, while Trump voters emphasize his policy stances.
PRINCETON, N.J. -- The lead reason U.S. registered voters give for their choice of president in the 2016 election involves not liking something about the opposing candidate. All told, 28% of voters -- including equal proportions of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump supporters -- cite reasons such as believing the other candidate is dishonest, unqualified or of poor temperament. The remaining voters offer more positive reasons for their choice of president, including their own candidate's qualifications (24%), policy stances (17%), personal qualities (14%) or party affiliation (9%).
These results are from a Sept. 14-18 Gallup survey in which self-identified U.S. registered voters were first asked whether they are voting for Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump, and then asked to explain why in their own words.
In contrast to today, in 2008 -- the last presidential election without an incumbent seeking a second term -- hardly any respondents said the main reason they were supporting either Barack Obama or John McCain was that they objected to the opposing candidate. Many Obama supporters explained their vote in terms of wanting change from the current Republican administration, but not explicitly because they rejected McCain.
Similarly, in the 2000 election, another open-seat race, Gallup found relatively few voters basing their preference for George W. Bush or Al Gore on their objection to the opposing candidate.
The Anti-Vote for Clinton vs. Trump Is a Wash
As noted, 28% of both Clinton and Trump voters say they are backing that person because of something they don't like about the other candidate. Among the specific responses that make up this category, Trump voters are most likely to cite their lack of trust in Clinton. This is followed by their dislike of her, their determination to vote against her and their decision to vote for Trump as the "lesser of two evils."
Clinton voters are a bit more likely to give the "lesser of two evils" response, followed by saying that they dislike Trump and that he doesn't have the temperament to be president.
Clinton Voters Drawn to Experience, Trump Voters to Issues
The perception that she has experience or is otherwise qualified to...
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