Character Counts?: Honesty and Fairness in Election 2000

This article examines the impact that voters’ evaluations of the candidates’ character had on their vote choice in the 2000 presidential election. We find that while the magnitude of the impact of character on the vote was roughly equal for both major party candidates, contrary to common perception, the substantive significance of character evaluations disproportionately affected George W. Bush. Our results indicate the need to account for the influence of character in other elections, given that character issues are a recurring theme in American presidential campaigns.