Reply #8: You are so right, Prosense! [View All]

I think making Kerry unlikeable last year was one of the dirtiest aspects of the campaign up there with the Swift Boats. It might at first glance seem like no big deal -- small stuff -- but the truth of the matter is a LOT of people vote on personality. Do I "like" this person and do I want him (or her) in my living room for the next 4 years? You know, for us it is obvious that you need to examine the candidate based on real merits -- their ideology, their actions as a public servant, what substance is in their speeches, who are his or her advisors -- but we don't live in a country that does that. Many people aren't all that interested in politics or policy, and want to do the least amount of work possible to determine who they want to vote for. So they look at the soft skills, the likeablity factor, and then look only at issues afterwards. Do I like this, no? But to quote our most wonderful defense secretary, "You run in the country you have, not in a country you wish you had".

That's why I forwarded the jury story to some swing voters I know, because that stuff matters a lot.