As citizens, we only get a tiny glimpse into who our presidential candidates really are. Information warfare is waged by campaigns and the media, who seem to all have an agenda. Yet we are tasked with making a huge decision on who should lead the free world.

How can we cut through the unnecessary information and make sense of what matters? How should we evaluate a presidential candidate? What factors matter? How much should we weigh one factor against another? It is all very overwhelming which is why most people procrastinate thinking about it until election day or opt-out entirely.

The fact we get to decide for ourselves is the beauty of democracy. The fact that we have to decide for ourselves is the mess of democracy.

People spend their life thinking about how to compare politicians (and yes, that is super nerdy). Despite spending years on the topic, many of these people only recently begun to try to get scientific about it. We put together this little framework for identifying things about candidates that matter to us. We’ve tried to stick with things that are measurable since things like integrity (which we would love to use) are nearly impossible to measure. Here it is, we hope it helps. We want a candidate who:

Prioritizes regular people over the elite

Where a person spends their time reveals their priorities. Money is, unfortunately, necessary to get elected in this day and age. A politician who raises more money from small donors reveals that they prioritize ordinary people over the wealthy.

Data: OpenSecrets tracks all fundraising data, see the 2020 presidential report here. 

Works across the aisle

An increase in partisanship has led to an increase in gridlock. Fewer solutions are being passed at a time when our problems are growing larger than ever. We think the best solutions incorporate ideas from different perspectives. We truly believe a politician who is willing to listen to other perspectives and work with the other party not only increases their chances of developing quality solutions, but also getting them passed.

Data: Georgetown University has developed a sophisticated way to measure bipartisanship, see the scores here. 

Gets things done

Some politicians are especially skilled at shepherding bills through the crazy bureaucratic process to actually become law. They have the determination, relationships and problem-solving ability to navigate the complexities of passing legislation. We think we need more politicians with this skill to help us solve our biggest challenges.

Data: Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia developed a sophisticated way to measure legislator effectiveness, see the scores here. 

Supports reforms that depolarize

We think toxic partisanship is the single biggest obstacle to politicians passing big laws that matter. The methods we use to vote, the way we draw districts and the rules around campaigning have a big impact on toxic partisanship. Some methods (like our current ones) make it more likely we elect extreme candidates. Other methods make it more likely reasonable people win an election. We want politicians who support changes that would make it easy for reasonable people to get elected. More reasonable people in office mean more solutions passed and a better life for all.

Data: A famed Harvard professor has graded each 2020 presidential candidate on their democracy reform stances, see the grades here. 

Has experience relevant to running a nation

Personally, we’d love a President with executive, legislative, foreign affairs and military experience all rolled into one human. A former CEO, governor, district attorney, congressperson, diplomat and marine would get us really excited. While we don’t think specific experience is necessary for being a good President, having been-there-before matters. A deep understanding of how each complex apparatus — executive, legislative, diplomatic and military — operates, makes it more likely a candidate will be successful in their role as our leader.

Data: Honestly, we think that Wikipedia is one of the best sources to look at a candidate’s experience. 

Supports ‘non-negotiable’ positions

There are only a few policy stances that are non-negotiable to us. These are more general principles rather than specific policies. If a candidate meets all the criteria above, but does not support the things that matter most to us, we wouldn’t support them. 

Data: Good guides that breakdown the policies of each 2020 candidate include: Axios, ProCon, On The Issues, NPR, Politico, Washington Post.

Has clear positions on major policies

We want to know where a candidate stands on all major policies before deciding if they have earned our vote. We are suspicious of any candidate who won’t publish a clear plan on big policy issues. We actually have more respect for a candidate who has a position we don’t agree with than a candidate who won’t take a position at all.

Data: These same guides do a good job of calling out whose not taking positions on certain issues: Axios, ProCon, On The Issues, NPR, Politico, Washington Post. 

Where Science Meets Art

Now that we have our criteria, how do we compare it all against each other? What matters more; experience, prioritizing regular people or policy positions? Welcome to the beautiful mess of democracy, there is no right answer, you get to decide.

Making it simple

In the past, our partners at ChangeRoots wished for an app where you could select what policies and factors matter the most, then see which candidate you could best match with. They scoured the internet for this and couldn’t find it. So they decided to start a company to do just that. At ChangeRoots, our friends are developing a simple app to compare politicians on what matters (plus some other cool stuff). And the best part is that It launches in February 2020. Take a peek at what they’re up to so far.