This may sound like a contradiction, but at times I have voted principles over issues. There have been certain candidates who I believed had more integrity than their opponent, even if the opponent was of my party. Integrity is a hill I've chosen to die on. I did so in my professional life, and I try to my best to in my personal life. I don't disagree with what you're saying, and in this year's election, I simply will not vote for any Republican candidate on principle. I probably wouldn't have anyway, but the current climate has removed the individual decisions I might have had to make.
I suppose voting for character over issues
is a legitimate thing for some people to do
if they're not highly ideological,
and if the perceived difference in character is extreme.
I 've always gone on this principle.
The candidates are politicians.
If they had pristine character,
they would not have succeeded as politicians, even to the point of my having heard of them.
If I'm going to vote for character,
I would have to vote for a dog, not a person,
but while almost any dog would be more capable than Trump,
few really have the educational credentials for public office.
My opinion of people being what it is, then,
I'll vote issues over character every time.
This has never been really tested to the extreme, however.
My party has never nominated anybody, at least in my lifetime, as deplorable as Trump.