As Election Day approaches, what factors are you weighing while you ponder your vote? Will you be charmed by a candidate's charisma and appearance—as many Kennedy voters supposedly were? Will you focus on the candidates' qualifications and stances on the issues? Just what will go into your decisionmaking process?
That's the question that Caltech's economists and political scientists and even its psychologists and neuroscientists are asking. And while they've had some success—gleaning insight into how the economy affects election outcomes, for instance, or what role emotions play in the process—no one really knows how you or your neighbor will actually vote.
