Leadership, decision-making and honesty top the long list of qualities Americans most want in a U.S. president, according to a novel poll.
In a comprehensive survey In a poll released this week by YouGov, American adults were asked to rate 40 different characteristics of a potential commander in chief.
At the top of the list, 88 percent said leadership qualities and decision-making ability were “very important,” followed by honesty (86 percent) and mental health (85 percent).
Integrity, intelligence, respect for the rule of law and commitment to democracy were also among the most critical characteristics in the survey.
Respondents ranked race, gender, wealth, marital status, place of origin, and whether a person is a parent among the least critical characteristics.
The poll comes as former President Trump and Vice President Harris are trading jabs at each other as they remain neck and neck with about three months to go before the November election. A poll index from Decision Desk HQ and The Hill shows Trump with a lead of 1.2 percentage points over Harris (as of Thursday), while the likely Democratic candidate has reduced Trump’s lead in several swing states.
Harris and her campaign team have repeatedly criticized Trump for his leadership and decision-making skills. to portray him as a hostile and disordered figure who will sow discord if re-elected. Harris also used her experience as a former prosecutor to challenge Trump’s conviction in a New York hush-money case earlier this year, questioning the former president’s honesty and respect for the rule of law and accusing him of threatening the country’s democracy.
Trump, on the other hand, has gone after Harris’ biracial identity has been questioned in recent days after several Republicans accused her of being a “DEI hire” who they say was chosen by President Biden as his 2020 running mate based solely on her race. Republicans have also criticized Harris for what they see as a lack of leadership amid the border crisis after she was tasked by the Biden administration with addressing the root causes of migration from Central America.
Harris entered the race for the White House less than two weeks ago after President Biden left the party amid doubts about his mental health and physical condition. Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, has moved quickly to consolidate her support and raise enormous sums of money to launch a competitive campaign on an accelerated timetable.
The YouGov poll was conducted in two separate surveys of 2,266 U.S. adults from July 25-27 and July 26-29. The margin of error for the sample is about 3 percentage points.
