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Disliking other candidate key reason for U.S. voters' choice of president: poll

Xinhua, October 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

The top reason for U.S. voters' choice of president in the 2016 election is their dislike of the other candidate, found a latest Gallup poll.

The Sept. 14-18 poll showed that 28 percent of voters -- including equal proportions of supporters for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival Donald Trump -- say they choose the president due to their dislike of the other candidate, who they believe is dishonest, unqualified or of poor temperament.

Twenty-four percent of U.S. voters say their choice will be based on their own candidate's qualifications, followed by policy stances (17 percent), personal qualities (14 percent) or party affiliation (9 percent).

In 2008 -- the last U.S. presidential election without an incumbent seeking reelection, hardly any U.S. voters said they vote because they disliked the other candidate.

For Trump supporters, they most likely cite their lack of trust in Clinton. This is followed by their dislike of her, their determination to vote against her and their decision to vote for Trump as the "lesser of two evils," Gallup said.

For Clinton voters, they are a bit more likely to give the "lesser of two evils" response, followed by saying that they dislike Trump and that he doesn't have the temperament to be president, according to the poll.

Clinton's experience is cited by 31 percent of her supporters in voting for the former senator, First Lady and Secretary of State.

In comparison, only 16 percent of Trump supporters cite experience as their reason for voting for the billionaire businessman.

Meanwhile, Trump's voters (23 percent) are about twice as likely as Clinton's supporters (11 percent) to cite agreement with their preferred candidate on issues or policy matters, the poll found.

"The upcoming presidential debates offer these candidates a final opportunity to boost their favorable ratings, display presidential gravitas and present ideas that appeal to swing voters," Gallup said in a report, referring to the second debate on Oct. 9 and the third one on Oct. 19.

If after the third debate these improvements haven't materialized, even more voters may decide that the best reason to vote for one of the two is that he or she isn't the other, Gallup added. Endit