Of course I can deny it, and I do.
Are you saying that Obama’s obvious charisma, charm and speaking ability haven’t been a factor in his popularity? Face it - he’s an appealing guy, and that’s one reason why people vote for him.
No, that’s one reason why people are drawn to him to hear what he has to say. They’re voting for him because they like his message, his principles, his ideas, his background, his experience, his legislation and his plans for the future. Spend some time on the blogs at barackobama.com to see what I’m talking about. Outside of the Straight Dope, I’ve never seen a more articulate, educated group of voters anywhere.
ETA: And I find the same holds true when reading the comments sections of articles across the web. The McCain supporters spew crap like Barack HUSSEIN Obama = Rezko = Wright = Goddamn America, while the Obama supporters are correcting facts and citing sources. The difference in the level of ignorance is staggering.
Well, I guess you need to define charisma.
Is there one universal definition?
I think he has it.
I also think he’s reasonably attractive.
But that is not why I’m voting for him.
Mre important, I think he exhibits character and intelligence, if demonstrated by nothing other than his ability to succeed at Harvard despite his less than privileged upbringing, and his decision to pursue public service instead of chasing dollars thereafter.
I think it shows a significant amount of character, strength, and ability for a multi-racial individual to succeed to the extent he has. IME black men rarely achieve high levels of success on their looks alone.
I find him to be an extremely thoughtful speaker who addresses issues more often than simply repeating slogans and soundbites. Of course what I hear as intelligent and thoughtful, others hear as patronizing.
I have often heard him acknowledge that issues include shades of grey rather than being black and white, and he acknowledges that various proposals are not going to appeal to everybody.
I guess to some extent charisma lies in the eye of the beholder. Folks often described Reagan as a charismatic speaker. I never understood that.
And I assume that Obama’s pigmentation alone is sufficient anti-charisma for sizeable portions of the electorate.
So I’m not going to deny that IMO Obama is charismatic. Also IMO, however, there is undeniably a great deal of substance in addition to whatever charisma he might possess. He is certainly not just a pretty face, an empty suit, or a golden voice.
I’m sure there are some folk who support Obama just because he has been portrayed as “hot” in some forums. But that is not the only motivation for all of his supporters.
Like I’ve said above, I consider myself very fortunate to be able to vote for a liberal platform as well as a candidate I like. I voted for Clinton the 2d time even tho I wasn’t thrilled with him personally. And if Hillary had won the nom I would have voted for her over ANY conceivable Republican, even tho I’m not a huge Hillary fan. So whatever charism he may possess is essentially a bonus.
I must say, I definitely hope to have the opportunity of hearing an intelligent president for the next 4/8 years, compared to the incumbent who - whatever his merits - always impresses me as an embarrassingly bad communicator.
Really? Roughly 50% of the population of the U.S. is intellegent, introspective, level-headed, rational *and *votes Democrat? Good luck with that.
Look, I’m not saying that all, or even most of Obama’s voters are drawn to him because of his personal apeal. But lots are. There are plenty of shallow people out there, and they’re not all on one side of the political fence.
“Proactively creating divisions in the electorate is a dangerous and uninspiring game,”
Isn’t that in a nut shell, a political campaign’s primary purpose?
At this point both sides have essentially the same message except that unless it’s brought to us by them the country will implode.
Well, it might very well be the primary purpose of many a campaign, but I don’t want it to be. What I’m getting at is a candidate saying…
"If I’m elected, of course, I work for all of you fine citizens. All 100 of you in the audience. That’s the job of President of the United States of America.
But I only need the votes of the 51 of you wearing green shirts to win. So here’s my promise: Elect me, and I’ll give a bunch of goodies to all of you in the green shirts. And it won’t cost you anything. I’ll get the goodies by taking them from the 49 people wearing yellow and orange shirts. We’ll get it from them, using force if necessary. Not you."
That’s what I meant.