ABSTRACT
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. That well-known proverb certainly applies to the perception of character traits of presidential candidates. The 1980 presidential election featured an unpopular incumbent president attempting to win reelection. Public approval of Jimmy Carter's presidential performance was low, due in large part to a deteriorating economy. The electoral circumstances in 1996 were quite different. The incumbent president, Bill Clinton, had a high approval rating due in large part to a healthy economy. Some voters will be confident that a candidate is a strong leader, while others are sure that he or she is not. Voters see the candidates through a lens that is tinted by their partisan and ideological leanings. Partisanship is a relatively stable and fundamental orientation that influences many political attitudes, so there is good reason to expect that it would strongly affect something as subjective as the assessment of candidate character traits.
