Parties Provide Pretty Good Voting Heuristics

Political scientist Jonathan Bernstein makes the point that voting for your party's candidate is often what you would choose to do even if you have full information, so you might as well do it even if you are not very informed. Often, you have no idea what's in the mind and character of a politician, but you do know that they feel pressure from party members and will be responsive to those pressures. That's the surer bet than to try to divine a politician's "true" attitudes.