Published: February 03, 2008 12:51 am            

VASICEK: The psychology of voting

I am a pastor who writes columns, not a columnist who pastors. This is why I avoid concrete politics, but I do not feel inhibited about addressing political themes. I try to write respectfully about both parties. Although I do not endorse parties or candidates, I enjoy the psychology of how people cast their ballots come election time.

Not only do we choose differing candidates because we espouse contrasting value systems or world-views, we also choose candidates in differing ways. We may even vote for the same person for different reasons.

The other day, I spotted a political cartoon in the Kokomo Tribune that accused John McCain of being a Democrat at heart. As I peered at the visual satire, I began to think how murky some of our political labels have become.

Like a hometown sports fan, some party loyalists consider their party’s team members “the good guys,” but if they are traded to another team, they immediately become “the bad guys.” Some voters are unswervingly loyal to their political party, no matter what the party platform. They view their party commitment as part of their genetic structure.

A recent AP article stated, “Two generations of Kennedys — the Democratic Party’s best known political family — endorsed Barack Obama for president on Monday, with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy calling him a ‘man with extraordinary gifts of leadership and character,’ a worthy heir to his assassinated brother.”

Some voters make their decision on the basis of endorsements. If someone we respect approves of a candidate, we assume they know more than we do; we trust their recommendation. Endorsements by organizations can carry even more weight.

Another AP article read, “Mitt Romney and John McCain accused each other Monday of harboring liberal tendencies, a charge bordering on blasphemy in the increasingly caustic campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.”

Other voters make their decision based on ideology. One system to define ideology is to break candidates into four quadrants: social conservatives, social liberals, economic conservatives and economic liberals. Toward the center of the grid we find the moderate ranges.

As a result, our personal views can be mixed and matched in a variety of ways. We might be socially conservative (regarding abortion and gay marriage) while being politically liberal (regarding entitlements and socialized medicine). We might be a tad socially moderate while being extremely politically liberal. Or we might be consistently liberal, moderate, or conservative across the board.

We have names for some of these combinations: conservative, liberal, libertarian, compassionate conservative, etc. Most ideological voters look for the candidate who most closely matches their views – which sometimes means voting for the “least worst choice.”

Others vote for personality. If someone seems inspiring, honest, creative, exciting, or down-to-earth, this person gets our vote. Neither ideologies nor party affiliation affect our decision – it is how we feel about the person.

Others vote on the basis of accepted axioms. When I was kid, the axiom was that if we had a Democratic president, that meant we would go to war (as a way to boost the economy). The other axiom was that the Republicans were for the rich and the Democrats were for the poor.

Yet, according to David Frum, most of America’s wealthiest people vote Democratic, as do most of America’s poorest citizens. Upper middle- and middle-class Americans are more prone to vote Republican. In my opinion, reality is not as simple as these axioms might suggest.

I personally believe that the way we reach our voting decisions is linked to who we are – our reasoning processes and how we make decisions in general.

Successful politicians wage their campaigns from differing angles, a few of which may be unnatural to the politician. This is why many of us perceive something disingenuous in most politicians – they must leave their comfort zones to win elections. When they do so, they are no longer quite themselves.

Ed Vasicek is pastor of Highland Park Church and a weekly contributor to the Kokomo Tribune.

        

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