This article is part of our Principled Voter series. A principled voter asks: Is this candidate empathetic? “Democracy, in its essence and genius, is imaginative love for and identification with a community with which, much of the time and in many ways, one may be in profound disagreement.” — Marilynne Robinson What does it mean to be empathetic? A principled voter supports leaders who seek to understand and connect with those they represent — and not just people who vote for them. Empathetic leaders know their own experiences are not universal, so they make sincere efforts to understand how policies (or their absence) might affect all of their constituents. What is…