New Survey: Atheism, Inexperience top list of negative trait for Presidential candidate
While many argue that America is getting more secular, the public appear to still find atheism a negative characteristic for an aspiring politician, joining inexperience at the top of bad traits. Military experience top the list of positives, ahead of experiences as governor and business executive.
The new Pew Research Poll indicates the public’s opinions headed into a heated 2014 election cycle and a looming 2016 presidential race.
“A new national survey testing candidate traits finds that 30% would be less likely to support a candidate with “many years” of experience as an elected official in Washington, while 19% would be more likely to support such a candidate. About half (48%) say it would not matter if a candidate had long Washington experience,” the report states.
“By contrast, early in the 2008 presidential campaign, more than twice as many saw lengthy Washington experience as a positive than negative trait for a presidential candidate (35% more likely vs. 15% less likely).”
This coincides with the increase in anti-constituent sentiment among voters. The opposite trend is clear for the role as state governor, a position highly regarded for a presidential run.
Meanwhile, 53% claimed they were less likely to support an atheist, the largest negative, edging out “Never held public Office” which was at 53%. “Extramarital Affair” and “In Their 70’s” were the next two big negatives.
A 2012 Gallup poll found that 54 percent of Americans were willing to vote for an atheist presidential candidate, up from just 18 percent in 1958.
This latest Pew survey is based on telephone interviews conducted in April among a national sample of 1,501 U.S. adults, aged 18 and older.
Check out the full survey coverage HERE
