What if you could choose a president to order?
Let’s see at the outset that you can’t, but the choice of election in 2024 will be on real people, not on abstract ideals.
That is, Americans in the USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll expressed their preferences about the qualities they find attractive in a president and those they say are irrelevant. All of which can be red flags and red flags for real people who are running or thinking about it.
David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk Political Research Center, said the job posting could be as follows: “Wanted – governor 51 to 65 years old with business experience and willing to make compromises to get the job done something. bonus.”
“Unfortunately, the 2024 presidential election right now doesn’t have a suitable candidate,” he said, adding that neither President Joe Biden nor former President Donald Trump fit the description. In the poll, he noted, “More than 6 in 10 say they don’t want Trump or Biden in 2024.”
The survey of 1,000 registered voters, taken by phone and cell phone Dec. 7-11, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.
How old should the president be?
The sweet spot is after middle age, between 51 and 65, the age group chosen by 50% of those surveyed. An additional 25% was taken from the previous middle age, 35 to 50 years.
The findings could be a warning to Trump, who announced his presidential bid last month. The former president turns 78 on Inauguration Day in 2025; Only 8% said the ideal president is between 66 and 80 years old.
It’s a bigger warning for Biden, who has said he’s leaning toward seeking a second term. He will be 82 years old at the next dedication; less than 1 percent voted for a president 80 years or older. In other words, only four of the 1,000 people surveyed chose this oldest age group.
Younger voters elected a younger president. Among those under 35, 41% said their ideal president would be between the ages of 35 and 50, the youngest working age group.
Is it time for a female president?
Probably not.
The majority of voters, a 55% majority, agreed that gender did not matter. This may be news to Hillary Clinton and other female candidates, who believe they have faced a political storm because of their sexism.
For many Americans, the Oval Office remains a man’s world. Overall, those who expressed their preference chose a man over a woman as the ideal more than 2-1, 28% -12%.
Among Republicans, 50% said the ideal president would be a man while 2% said he would be a woman. By contrast, pro-choice Democrats chose women more than men by 2-1, 24%-11%.
The political independents were the ones who said that gender doesn’t matter. Almost two-thirds, 63%, shared this view.
Is there a gender gap?
Among eligible voters, men by 8-1 preferred a male president over a female, 32%-4%. Women also seem to prefer male presidents, 25%-19%.
The city effect: where are you from?
A majority of those surveyed, 57%, said it does not matter where a president comes from.
Those who said it was important tended to favor people from their region of the country. Regional pull was strongest in the Midwest, chosen by 27% of Midwesterners. 20% of those from the Northeast prefer the East Coast; the south with 18% of those from the south; the West Coast at 16% of those from the West.
which party? How about both?
Not surprisingly, Democratic voters strongly wanted a Democratic president (71%) and Republican voters strongly wanted a Republican (74%).
But there was significant support for a president without a major political party. This is what not only two-thirds of independents (67%) want, but also 17% of Democrats and 13% of Republicans.
Young voters are the least tied to parties. Among 18 to 35-year-olds, 31% voted for a Democratic president and 19% for a Republican, but 41% said their ideal president would be an independent.
Leadership Style: Compromise or Not?
By a margin of two, 57% to 34%, Americans want a president who compromises to get things done, not one who stands on principle or anything.
But the difference in numbers helps explain why getting things done has often been so difficult in Washington.
Unhappy New Year? Poll finds Americans worried about country’s direction, its leaders and its future before 2023
By 4-1, 74%-19%, Democrats want a president who will cut deals. Republicans by 50%-38% prefer the president to stand on principle, even if it means not getting things done.
This gap in leadership style is one of the biggest divisions in the poll.
political experience? Yes, but…
Political experience was considered an advantage by most voters. Democrats preferred the senator to the governor, 37%-32%. Republicans, in what may be a reflection of the GOP’s antipathy to all things Washington, voted for the governor over the senator by a margin of 3-1, 36%-11%.
Among Republicans, there seemed to be a retreat from political experience. A third, 32%, prefer someone with no political experience.
business experience? Yes, but…
There was also some disagreement about the value of business experience in the ideal president.
Overall, 56% said the ideal president would have a background in business. That includes 85% of Republicans.
Among Democrats, however, there seemed to be a backlash against the corporate experience. By 55%-29%, they preferred a non-corporate president. That may reflect opposition to Trump, the celebrity and reality TV star who never ran for office until he won the presidency in 2016.
military experience? Yes, but…
Military service was a clear advantage for Republicans; 61% said their ideal president would be a soldier. Democratic views were more mixed: 31% favored a serving president; 37% chose none. Another 31% volunteered that it didn’t matter.
