Results from an online survey posted on Scripps websites (including knoxnews.com) suggests people seek leadership, honesty, judgment and fairness in their next president but don't see either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama strongly possessing all of those traits.
Voters think character is an important determinant in selecting political candidates, according to polls cited by Neal H. Mayerson, whose non-profit Cincinnati-based VIA Institute on Character designed the online survey that was placed on several Scripps websites in recent weeks.
The nonscientific survey asked respondents to identify the top character traits they sought in the next president from a list of 24. It then asked them to identify the two candidates' top character traits.
Mayerson said 80 percent of respondents listed "leadership" as a trait they'd like to see in a chief executive. Seventy-five percent listed "honesty," while 53 percent chose "judgment" and 40 percent named "fairness."
"Across all respondents and within all sub-samples, Mitt Romney is seen by more people (in this survey) as possessing leadership than is President Obama," Mayerson said in analyzing the responses.
Similarly, survey respondents indicated Obama possesses more of the fourth-most important character trait -- fairness. Thirty-nine percent identified it as a core character trait found in the president while only 17 percent found Romney possesses the quality.
(Excerpt) Read more at knoxnews.com ...
