If pragmatism was on the Democratic ballot this year, it might well win in a landslide. The widespread loathing for Donald Trump among Democrats has made electability the single most important factor for many primary voters. In a January Economist/YouGov survey, 65% of likely Democratic primary voters declared that they would vote for a nominee “who can win the general election in November,” compared to only 35% who said that it was more important that they agree with the nominee’s positions. For some Democrats, mostly of the moderate flavor, electability has become a central component of their campaign—and an argument against their more left-wing opponents. Last weekend, for instance, the Pete Buttigieg campaign wrote to supporters arguing that Bernie Sanders was a major electoral threat: “We risk nominating a candidate who cannot beat Donald Trump in November. And that’s a risk we can’t take.”

Being pragmatic in 2020 likely means appealing to a small but inarguably important group of voters—ones who would at least consider shifting their support between the parties. How many truly undecideds and persuadables exist is a matter of hot debate, with estimates ranging from high single digits to roughly 20%. The larger number is what we found in a recent Politico-Morning Consult poll, the cumulative total of respondents who described themselves as either undecided or only leaning toward one party or the other. How many of that 20% are truly in play is a bit muddy, but what is clear is that those swing voters tend to cluster in the category of self-described Independents: Fully one third of Independents in the poll described themselves as leaners or undecided. That explains why a candidate like Amy Klobuchar would boast to Vox that “I appeal to Independents just based on my agenda and what I want to get done,” and mean that she is more electable than her Democratic competitors.

Klobuchar and Buttigieg and Joe Biden for that matter, are all making the case that they are vote magnets for these persuadable Independents—but assessing candidates’ appeal to these voters is almost as difficult as figuring out how many they are. As a group, they tend to be disengaged and generally less knowledgeable about politics and policies than those in the parties’ mainstreams. By definition they are late deciders, making predictions nine months in advance speculative, and making the head-to-head polling that media love more of an exercise in name recognition than a real predictive exercise.

For these reasons, we took a different tack, focusing not on candidates but on qualities. We analyzed how Independents answered a battery of questions in the Politico-Morning Consult poll that focused on the characteristics that voters would want to see or avoid in a general election candidate. Here are three major takeaways.

Independents want a good manager in chief. In an era of political bitterness and social uncertainty, the voters targeted in the survey prioritize the attributes that make someone a good steward of our democracy. Honesty and competence are, by wide margins, the attributes most often identified by Americans in general and Independents in particular as qualities they would want to see in their candidates for president. It is perhaps not earth-shattering news to see people want honesty (55%) and competence (41%) in their political leadership, but the importance of these answers lies principally in comparison to what scored much lower in the rankings: fresh ideas (19%), taking on corporations and special interests (17%), and standing up for your own beliefs (13%) to name three.

Honesty and competence may not be the most stirring of qualities at a time of crisis—they are, after all, probably what you would look for in any entry-level employee—but those attributes have long been safe harbors for American voters. Jimmy Carter won an election largely on an honesty platform, and you might be able to draw a few parallels between those times and now. In 2016, more than 6 in 10 voters saw both candidates as untrustworthy and dishonest, so the issue was effectively neutralized, but it has the potential to be highly influential in 2020. Americans, at least those in the pliable center, seem to careen between healers and revolutionaries, and it is hard to blame any voter looking for a pendulum swing away from the chaos, disorder, and vitriol of the Trump era. Trump has proven himself effective at pulling his opponents into the mud pit with him, but Independents at least are signaling some desire for a candidate who can stay squeaky clean.