Maybe This Debate Will Show Us How Much Voters Truly Care About Those Policy Details
Raymond | a CLMI Fellow
There is a general impression from both the media ecosystem and voters that neither of the major presidential candidates in this year’s hotly contested election, Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican nominee Donald Trump, are talking much about their policy objectives, priorities or goals. It will be critical to get a full grasp of candidate agendas considering the sheer volume of Americans, particularly the voting ones, who will be watching tonight’s highly anticipated debate, according to this recently dropped NPR/PBS News/Marist poll …
One general consensus, ahead of the debate, is that voters will want both candidates to - as BBC reports in a small (yet, not diverse) pre-event sampling - “stick to policy.” Still, another persistent narrative (driven by ongoing mainstream media annoyance over Harris’ limited interaction with journalists) is that the Vice President is scarce on policy details, as PBS News’ Geoff Bennett points out …
… [N]ew polling suggesting the race is a dead heat. The national poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College shows Trump leading Harris by 1 percentage point, 48 to 47, well within the margin of error.
And among voters who say they still need to learn more about Vice President Harris, 63 percent of them say they don't know enough about her policies and plans.
Trump has an advantage in the sense that he was president for one term in recent memory. Most people are assuming that his policies are the same since then. A separate question for Harris remains: Has she really talked that much about her policies since her unprecedented nomination and this year's election has now kicked into high gear? Both will need to face grilling from not just moderators in tonight’s debate about where they stand on an array of issues, but from undecided voters who need guidance between now and Election Day as they face a critical decision. That NPR/PBS News/Marist poll does suggest this debate will be the key to that …
But an even more critical question that most voters might be quietly asking and not admitting: What is a policy? It’s important to understand that first before lunging into the discussion or drawing broad assumptions about any candidate. In a nutshell, we would want to know the policy details: a specific plan or set proposals a candidate outlines to address or respond to the various issues and challenges the nation faces.
Ideally, what would these details include? We’d be looking for …
The goals of the policy
Steps and actions it takes to commit these policy goals
The resources needed to achieve these goals
A timeline for when these policies will take place
And, lastly, the expected outcome of these policies
Since many voters rely on these policy details to choose which candidate they vote for, people are conflicted about who to support and vote for. The lack of detailed communication about policy details can lead to considerable uncertainty and skepticism among voters who demand transparency and concrete policies from future leaders. There are voters who say that they are concerned over the lack of specific policy details from both Harris and Trump, which means there is a sizable chunk of the electorate still struggling to understand how either candidate will lead, especially in a time of crisis. That’s despite the fact one candidate spent one term as a president responding to a deadly pandemic and the other has spent an entire career in multiple local, state and federal public service positions (up to just a step away from the presidency) managing numerous crises. Still, this election is tight due to undecideds, as the NPR/PBS News/Marist poll shows …
And quite a few here in this latest Economist/YouGov poll …
What Policies Are They Talking About?
Despite the chatter, both presidential candidates are highlighting key components of their respective agendas. Details are, as expected, lacking in some cases and for a reason: Harris’ team needs to minimize controversy and manage public expectations just enough to simply win the election without losing too many independents or undecideds … while Trump is merely maintaining a relatively die-hard base of voters (that, according to most polling, doesn’t budge above 47 percent). We should keep an eye on those policies tonight and how much moderators will acknowledge them. Harris has already shared more than several of her policy positions publicly, such as …
Heavy emphasis on restoring reproductive rights for women
The elimination of corporate and retailer price-gouging of consumers
Up to $25,000 in down payment aid for first-time home buyers
Up to $3,600 per child in an expanded child tax credit
Working with states to ban the use of medical debt in credit scores
Expressed support for the DREAM Act
Expansion and Renewal of DACA
Expressed support for passage and signing of the bipartisan U.S.-Mexico border security bill that stalled in Congress
A ban hidden bank fees
Banning taxes on tips
Supporting affordable childcare
While Trump, on the other hand, has also stated several of his policy positions were he to secure the presidency again, with some highlights such as …
Leaving abortion policies to the states to decide
Launch aggressive deportation efforts with military assistance
Restoring 2019’s “Remain in Mexico” order
Enacting travel bans
Moving the homeless out of cities and deploying the military to remove them
Deploying federal prosecutors and the National Guard to high-crime communities
Promising lower taxes, bigger paychecks, and more jobs
So yes, we’ve been seeing and hearing policy positions from the campaigns. People, however, are still concerned because many may be having trouble grasping what these policies mean in the context of their lives - and voters, until tonight, won’t hear these positions on such a massive stage.
Instinctively, people do understand that when candidates provide policy details they offer a clear view of how they intend to govern. Discussing policy details also helps to differentiate candidates from one another. Clear policy details from all candidates highlight the unique strengths of each, allowing voters to make more informed choices on who to support and vote for. When potential candidates are forced to discuss policy, they are also promoting accountability and potential good governance.
Still, why do people focus more on candidate personality than policy vigor? Media consumers and voters claim they want a policy focus, yet find themselves drawn by the entertainment value of a moment like this debate.
Social media, coupled with media hype, plays a role. Being liked on social media and feeling close to the candidates through content gives the impression to voters that they’re learning more about the candidates and making it easier to navigate the election. In that process, it places much more emphasis on candidate personality than policy, even as consumers and voters complain they want more policy detail. As Ashray Urs in AdWeek notes …
American politicians are desperate to be fluent in the language of the internet, a desire that reflects a larger trend in politics: that politicians can’t just be leaders anymore. They have to be influencers. And they’re tapping into the creator economy to engineer virality in a way that translates to the polls.
Online creators are extraordinarily valuable to political movements because of the sway they have over young people’s perspectives and opinions. Creators model the lifestyles their viewers want. They make their audiences feel seen. They build community and, as every politician knows, community is power.
And as a Brookings’ analysis notes, younger people are primarily reliant on social media for their political news …
Policy … Or Personality?
For an example, we attempted a short non-scientific sample of five potential voters - separately - to see if personality or policy is more important to them in this year’s election. Here are those results …
Person 1: Personality
Why: “Because a more likable person is easier to connect with.”
Person 2: Personality
Why: “Being a negative person does not get you anywhere in life so I’d rather have someone who cares about me as a human then someone who just wants to rule me.”
Person 3: Policy
Why: “I like knowing change is getting put into place with the correct policies rather than policies that will further harm our nation.”
Person 4: Personality
Why: “I don’t know, I just feel like everything does not need to be serious, I know this is a serious election but outside in the real world we look for peace and someone with an understanding personality.”
Person 5: Personality
Why: “Someone who relates to me is easier to vote for.”
As we can see the results of this are 99 percent personality. While it’s a non-scientific sample, it’s honest and revealing. Most voters, while not admitting it, could be eyeing the candidates they view as relatable, down to Earth, charismatic candidate. This is because most Americans fail to properly grasp the magnitude of very consequential elections like this one nor are they understanding what policies mean and how much, good or bad, they’ll be impacted by them.
SU’MIRACLE RAYMOND is a Fellow at the Civic Literacy and Media Influence Institute at Learn4Life.
