Election seen as a battle between good and evil

Election seen as a battle between good and evil

William Jordan - August 25th, 2016

83% of Trump voters think Hillary Clinton is literally 'evil'; 66% of Clinton supporters think the same about Trump

A common refrain in this election has been that it represents an almost impossible choice between two historically unpopular candidates. Ethicists, opinion writers, and then third-party candidates have put it in even starker terms: in casting a ballot for Clinton or Trump voters are forced to choose the “lesser of two evils”. Except, that’s not quite how voters see it.

Among Trump’s voters a striking 83% would use the word “evil” to describe Clinton. Clinton voters aren’t much less willing to mince their words, with 66% describing Trump as “evil”.

However, these points of view rarely overlap. In fact, 37% of registered voters describe only Clinton as evil, and 30% describe only Trump as evil, and 24% describe neither candidate this way, but only 5% describe both candidates this way. Groups that are more likely to describe both candidates as evil are voters aged 18-34 (12%) and those who support third parties or are undecided (19%).

Despite how much attention the “lesser of two evils” framing gets, voters tend to be pretty consistent about the candidates they do support – or oppose. Digging through the same poll reveals concentric layers of likes and dislikes for candidates. 96% of Trump supporters have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton, of which 91% is “very” unfavorable. 94% say Clinton is “corrupt”, 92% say she is “dangerous” and 62% say she is “crazy”. For Clinton supporters, the numbers are again not far off: 92% say Trump is dangerous, 85% say he’s crazy and 78% say he’s corrupt. Conversely, 82% of Clinton supporters say she's "compassionate" and 65% of Trump supporers say the same for their candidate.

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And in most cases, supporters refuse to use negative words to describe their preferred candidate. That’s not to say all voters aren’t making a tough decision in some way. Cases where supporters are more likely to say something negative reveal the candidates biggest vulnerabilities: for Clinton, it’s the 16% of supporters who say she is “corrupt”. For Trump, it’s the 15% of Trump voters who say he is “dangerous” – and the 20% who say he is “crazy”.

Photos: PA

See the rest of this week's YouGov/Economist Poll

YouGov/Economist Poll archives