What is a presidential candidate to do when faced with a situation where their opponent campaigns not on their policies, but instead on their personality. This is the situation both democrats and republicans found themselves in when facing Donald Trump. One article discusses how Donald Trump, as well as Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders, were able to craft a community that was fiercely devoted to them and their policies. This is to the detriment of more establishment politicians that people do not relate to as closely. The article claimed that the more people were attached to their politician, the more likely they were to go out and vote.
This is an interesting phenomenon as the article claimed that the policies of the candidates was secondary to how relatable the voter felt the candidate was. Clinton was frequently described as cold and arrogant by the media and voters which made it so she was not able to convince swing voters to vote for her based on personality. This creates an issue as in American politics, the vote for president is much more than just a vote for an individual. Voting for a party based on how energetic or charismatic they are does not in any way reflect the quality of a candidate in terms of how they would perform as president. Being able to come up with a witty insult in a debate does not make you an effective foreign representative of your country.
This appeal to voters based on personality rather than policy is common among populists like Donald Trump that exist almost exclusively through bombastic, controversial statements, rather than actions. The article concludes with a question that is particularly relevant to the future of populism: Is this the new trend in electoral politics or will there be a return to campaigning based on policy?
https://stanfordpolitics.org/2016/03/03/personality-over-policy/
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