Importance of Political Record in Voting Decisions (October 2012)
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Likely voters were asked, "When voting for a political candidate, please indicate how important each of the following factors is in your decision, Extremely important, Somewhat important, Not very important, Not at all important: Political record." "Likely Voters" were defined as those who indicated that they were either "Extremely" or "Somewhat" interested in politics in Q2 AND either voted in "Every" or "Almost every" election in Q3.
| category | column-1 |
|---|---|
| Extremely important | 60% |
| Somewhat important | 35% |
| Not very important | 3% |
| Not at all important | 1% |
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Likely voters were asked, "When voting for a political candidate, please indicate how important each of the following factors is in your decision, Extremely important, Somewhat important, Not very important, Not at all important: Political record." "Likely Voters" were defined as those who indicated that they were either "Extremely" or "Somewhat" interested in politics in Q2 AND either voted in "Every" or "Almost every" election in Q3. Measurement of Party ID for this figure is based on two questions. First, respondents were asked whether they consider themselves to be a Democrats, Republicans, independents, other, or not sure. Those who responded that they are independents or "other" were then asked if they lean toward either the Democrats or Republicans. If they indicated that they lean toward one party or the other, they are considered Democrats or Republicans for the purposes of this figure. Only "pure" independents or members of a third party who indicate that they have no preference for Democrats vis-a-vis Republicans are considered independents . Respondents who answered that they are "not sure" for either of the two aforementioned questions are not incorporated into this figure.
| category | Democrat | Independent | Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extremely important | 66% | 43% | 61% |
| Somewhat important | 27% | 50% | 36% |
| Not very important | 5% | 7% | 2% |
| Not at all important | 2% | 0% | 1% |
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Likely voters were asked, "When voting for a political candidate, please indicate how important each of the following factors is in your decision, Extremely important, Somewhat important, Not very important, Not at all important: Political record." "Likely Voters" were defined as those who indicated that they were either "Extremely" or "Somewhat" interested in politics in Q2 AND either voted in "Every" or "Almost every" election in Q3. Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
| category | Lean Republican | Not very strong Republican | Strong Republican |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extremely important | 61% | 54% | 64% |
| Somewhat important | 37% | 44% | 33% |
| Not very important | 0% | 0% | 3% |
| Not at all important | 1% | 2% | 0% |
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Likely voters were asked, "When voting for a political candidate, please indicate how important each of the following factors is in your decision, Extremely important, Somewhat important, Not very important, Not at all important: Political record." "Likely Voters" were defined as those who indicated that they were either "Extremely" or "Somewhat" interested in politics in Q2 AND either voted in "Every" or "Almost every" election in Q3. Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
| category | Lean Democrat | Not very strong Democrat | Strong Democrat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extremely important | 62% | 65% | 69% |
| Somewhat important | 28% | 34% | 24% |
| Not very important | 10% | 1% | 3% |
| Not at all important | 0% | 0% | 3% |
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Likely voters were asked, "When voting for a political candidate, please indicate how important each of the following factors is in your decision, Extremely important, Somewhat important, Not very important, Not at all important: Political record." "Likely Voters" were defined as those who indicated that they were either "Extremely" or "Somewhat" interested in politics in Q2 AND either voted in "Every" or "Almost every" election in Q3. Ideology is measured on a scale of 1-7, with 1 corresponding to "extremely liberal", 7 corresponding to "extremely conservative, and 4 corresponding to "in the middle." For the purposes of this table, respondents who placed themselves at or between points 1 and 3 on the scale are considered "liberal," respondents who placed themselves at point 4 on the scale are considered "moderate," and respondents who placed themselves at or between points 5 and 7 on the scale are considered conservative.
| category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extremely important | 69% | 50% | 66% |
| Somewhat important | 29% | 42% | 31% |
| Not very important | 2% | 5% | 2% |
| Not at all important | 0% | 2% | 1% |
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Likely voters were asked, "When voting for a political candidate, please indicate how important each of the following factors is in your decision, Extremely important, Somewhat important, Not very important, Not at all important: Political record." "Likely Voters" were defined as those who indicated that they were either "Extremely" or "Somewhat" interested in politics in Q2 AND either voted in "Every" or "Almost every" election in Q3. The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
| category | Leaning conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extremely important | 62% | 67% | 70% |
| Somewhat important | 33% | 31% | 28% |
| Not very important | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Not at all important | 2% | 0% | 0% |
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Likely voters were asked, "When voting for a political candidate, please indicate how important each of the following factors is in your decision, Extremely important, Somewhat important, Not very important, Not at all important: Political record." "Likely Voters" were defined as those who indicated that they were either "Extremely" or "Somewhat" interested in politics in Q2 AND either voted in "Every" or "Almost every" election in Q3. The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
| category | Leaning liberal | Somewhat liberal | Extremely liberal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extremely important | 64% | 72% | 79% |
| Somewhat important | 33% | 28% | 19% |
| Not very important | 3% | 0% | 2% |
| Not at all important | 0% | 0% | 0% |
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Likely voters were asked, "When voting for a political candidate, please indicate how important each of the following factors is in your decision, Extremely important, Somewhat important, Not very important, Not at all important: Political record." "Likely Voters" were defined as those who indicated that they were either "Extremely" or "Somewhat" interested in politics in Q2 AND either voted in "Every" or "Almost every" election in Q3. Tea Party identification is based on the following question, also asked in the survey: "Suppose the Tea Party movement organized itself as a political party. When thinking about the next election for Congress, would you vote for the Republican candidate from your district, the Democratic candidate from your district, or the Tea Party candidate from your district?" Those who responded "Republican candidate" are considered Republicans (non-Tea Party movement) and those who responded "Tea Party candidate" are considered Tea Party Republicans.
| category | Democrat | Republican | Tea Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extremely important | 69% | 55% | 66% |
| Somewhat important | 25% | 41% | 33% |
| Not very important | 4% | 3% | 1% |
| Not at all important | 1% | 1% | 0% |
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Likely voters were asked, "When voting for a political candidate, please indicate how important each of the following factors is in your decision, Extremely important, Somewhat important, Not very important, Not at all important: Political record." "Likely Voters" were defined as those who indicated that they were either "Extremely" or "Somewhat" interested in politics in Q2 AND either voted in "Every" or "Almost every" election in Q3. Race is calculated according to the RACE1 variable.
| category | White | Black | Hispanic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extremely important | 60% | 78% | 51% |
| Somewhat important | 37% | 16% | 41% |
| Not very important | 3% | 1% | 8% |
| Not at all important | 1% | 5% | 0% |
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Likely voters were asked, "When voting for a political candidate, please indicate how important each of the following factors is in your decision, Extremely important, Somewhat important, Not very important, Not at all important: Political record." "Likely Voters" were defined as those who indicated that they were either "Extremely" or "Somewhat" interested in politics in Q2 AND either voted in "Every" or "Almost every" election in Q3. Gender is calculated according to the GENDER variable.
| category | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Extremely important | 65% | 56% |
| Somewhat important | 34% | 36% |
| Not very important | 0% | 6% |
| Not at all important | 0% | 2% |
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Likely voters were asked, "When voting for a political candidate, please indicate how important each of the following factors is in your decision, Extremely important, Somewhat important, Not very important, Not at all important: Political record." "Likely Voters" were defined as those who indicated that they were either "Extremely" or "Somewhat" interested in politics in Q2 AND either voted in "Every" or "Almost every" election in Q3. Location is based on the following question, " Would you say that you live in an urban, suburban, or rural community?"
| category | Urban | Suburban | Rural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extremely important | 65% | 61% | 52% |
| Somewhat important | 34% | 33% | 43% |
| Not very important | 1% | 4% | 5% |
| Not at all important | 0% | 2% | 0% |
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Likely voters were asked, "When voting for a political candidate, please indicate how important each of the following factors is in your decision, Extremely important, Somewhat important, Not very important, Not at all important: Political record." "Likely Voters" were defined as those who indicated that they were either "Extremely" or "Somewhat" interested in politics in Q2 AND either voted in "Every" or "Almost every" election in Q3. Education is calculated according to the EDUC variable.
| category | No high school | High school graduate | Some college | 2-year | 4-year | Post-grad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extremely important | 73% | 60% | 61% | 43% | 61% | 71% |
| Somewhat important | 19% | 36% | 29% | 54% | 38% | 29% |
| Not very important | 2% | 3% | 6% | 4% | 1% | 0% |
| Not at all important | 6% | 0% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
