ABSTRACT

A public agenda focused on terrorism and war may have added to voters' doubts about women's leadership, but popular support for electing a woman has rebounded since 2001–2003. An analysis of candidates' traits using American National Election Studies (ANES) surveys found that the “strong leader” cue actually became less rather than more important as a predictor of the presidential vote in 2004 than in 2000. The trait “candidate cares about you” was significantly more important in 2004 than in many previous election years, especially for women. Women politicians who can prove their “toughness” or their skills at crisis management may have an advantage with voters (especially women voters) if they can take advantage of their perceived edge in compassion.