Cartoons by Rod Emmerson.
Welcome to the Herald's election character poll.
Over the next few weeks we will be asking you to assess the personality traits of our political leaders heading into the election on November 8.
Politicians pore over the results of political polling asking things like: "Who's your preferred Prime
Minister?"
So instead we have decided to switch focus for a lighter look at what we really think of our party leaders.
Over the following days we'll be polling on your views on the character of our leaders. We want to know things like which politician you would most likely invite to a dinner party, who would you rather share a beer with, which of them is most likely to take advice from their partner.
Most days we will run a different character poll. They will run on our homepage and Election '08 page.
Once we have enough results we can start to build a picture of what you think deep down of our politicians.
The idea is not new.
Last year, the Australian magazine, the now defunct Bulletin, ran an extensive Nielsen poll asking Australians similar questions.
The Bulletin put it this way on their light-hearted poll:
"This polling offers greater insights than it first might appear. Perceptions of politicians do affect the way people vote. Indeed, a significant number of citizens don't consider policy at all, much less ideology. They vote for the person they believe will best look after their interests over the next three years. That's why modern election campaigns are so presidential."
So we thought the Herald could take a leaf from the Bulletin's book and try our own polling.
Take today's poll - "Which of these politicians would be most likely to help change a baby's nappy?" - and watch out over the next fortnight for more character polls.
