There's Absolutely Nothing Wrong With Choosing A Candidate Based On Personality

[THUNDER HANDS]

when all the candidates are virtually the same on every issue.

Am I missing something? What is wrong with having a personality that people like?

----

Popular!
You're gonna be popular!
I'll teach you the proper ploys
When you talk to boys
Little ways to flirt and flounce
I'll show you what shoes to wear
How to fix your hair
Everything that really counts

To be popular
I'll help you be popular!
You'll hang with the right cohorts
You'll be good at sports
Know the slang you've got to know
So let's start
'Cause you've got an awfully long way to go:

Don't be offended by my frank analysis
Think of it as personality dialysis
Now that I've chosen to be come a pal, a
Sister and adviser
There's nobody wiser
Not when it comes to popular -
I know about popular
And with an assist from me
To be who you'll bee
Instead of dreary who-you-were: are:
There's nothing that can stop you
From becoming popu-
Ler: lar:

La la la la
We're gonna make
You popular

When I see depressing creatures
With unprepossessing features
I remind them on their own behalf
To think of
Celebrated heads of state or
Specially great communicators
Did they have brains or knowledge?
Don't make me laugh!

They were popular! Please -
It's all about popular!
It's not about aptitude
It's the way you're viewed
So it's very shrewd to be
Very very popular
Like me!

And though you protest
Your disinterest
I know clandestinely
You're gonna grin and bear it
Your new found popularity
La la la la
You'll be popular -
Just not as quite as popular
As me!

[aquart]

1. Sigh.

Now you're gonna tell me he's the kind of man you wanna have a beer with, right?

[AndyA]

5. Where have I heard THAT before?

I believe it was somewhere near the beginning of a very long, very bad, NIGHTMARE!

[mrreowwr_kittty]

8. Matter of fact, I would LOVE to have a beer with any of our candidates!

[maddiejoan]

2. It's fine

when all other things are basically equal.


What bothers me is when Obama supporters question MY feelings about Hillary.

I like her. I like her personality. She is more like me than the other two.

If someone else emerges as the Democratic candidate, I will happily vote for them in the GE.

But Hillary is the one that I "like".

[THUNDER HANDS]

7. that's wonderful

if you like Hillary, vote for her, that's democracy. There's nothing wrong with voting for the person you connect with best.

[maddiejoan]

10. Thank you

and I appreciate your fervor for Obama.

Bottom line is we don't have a single candidate in the race that won't make a great President.

We should all remember that.

[THUNDER HANDS]

11. absolutely

well stated.

[mathewsleep]

3. independents like him

this is the best reason to think he'd do better in the general election than anyone else. the independents like to vote based on there gut, who ever they like better, which is why gore and kerry lost. they weren't as 'likable' as bush. retards. well, as they say; fool me once, shame on, shame on you; fool me again,.. uhh,.. you see i can't get fool again.

[Lautremont]

4. Is that what all this spewing is about then?

DU in general, I mean. Is everyone fighting and getting pissed off and becoming lunatics over differences of personality? If so, everyone's gone mental. If everyone HASN'T gone mental, then there must be some substantive differences in policy.

[readmoreoften]

6. No, but it's wrong to think they can WIN on personality when the media controls what you see.

What most people know about a candidate is almost entirely shaped by what the media portrays. Will those who only vote for their candidate on personality turn on him/her when the media shows him/her wearing a frown or yelling or when they flub badly during a debate?

Clinton's supporters have seen her portrayed in a negative light for over a decade. Edwards was at least subjected to the machine last time around. Obama has been pretty-much glorified by the media at all turns. But we see what the media does to its favorite sons. When it bleeds it leads and it loves nothing more than to make and break people. When it gets no ratings from pushing Obama love, it will find a way to profit from Obama hate.

[brentspeak]

9. But when the candidates ARE very different on many issues

-- as the Democrats are in this nomination cycle -- choosing based on personality contests is repulsive.

[jackson_dem]

12. Obama is merely a personality candidate

I thought he was an agent of change?

[Deep13]

13. We have differing perspectives on this.

When I pick, it's resume first, issues second and personal assets third if at all. I haven't watched a single debate. I don't consider the candidates themselves to be a reliable source of information. Pre-election positions or promises are worthless. The only reliable way to see how someone will act in the future is to examine how he or she acted in the past.

I find it odd when people say we have the best Dem. field in years. Frankly, none of these folks are knocking my socks off. The two most experienced, Richardson and Biden, never had much of a chance. So, I'm left with which neophyte is least likely to fuck up?

Finally, I am suspicious of the whole cult-of-personality. If I look at the most popular leaders in history, I cannot help noticing that most were dictators or con artists. I'm suspicious of people who want to be my friend without even knowing me. Obama's oratory skills is in and of itself a turn-off. I know how language is used to manipulate people's feelings and how it is irrational by nature. Frankly, he reminds me of a TV preacher. I'm also a little offended that he never had any real intention of being a Senator. I find HC's frosty nature to be refreshing. So if I were to go on personality, she would have won me over a long time ago. As it was, I was for Richardson at first and then for Biden. Now that we are effectively down to two, I have to choose Hillary.

[David Zephyr]

14. You are soooo Galinda, Magic Rat.

[THUNDER HANDS]

20. i look better in a dress.

:)

[snagglepuss]

15. Nothing wrong if the position is on a city council but plenty wrong

if its for the US presidency. I don't understand Americans at all. For the last 8 years idiotboy who has by all accounts a winning personality has brought America to the brink. He had no experience but that was glossed over because he was a self-proclaimed uniter. Reagan was also a charmer and he too crapped on America. Call me nuts but the track record of presidents with dazzling personalities ain't too imprressive.

[Deep13]

16. "...presidents with dazzling personalities ain't too imprressive."

FDR seems to be the only exception.

It is not just here. If you look back on history at popular leaders, most were dictators or other forms of autocrats. Either that or their reputations do not match what they actually accomplished.

[THUNDER HANDS]

17. JFK was good

Clinton was good, for what he was able to do.

[Deep13]

18. Yes, I don't mean to imply that my observation is all-inclusive. nt

[snagglepuss]

21. You're right about the historical igures but what baffles me is that

idiotboy provides a vivid present day lesson that personality is not a sound basis for electing a president. What I see are Pied Pipers and people mesmerized by them.

[Deep13]

23. I'm afraid I can't help making that comparison myself.

One would think that we would have had enough of amateur rule. Perhaps Obama would avoid that by being receptive to advice from reasonable people. Still, he has to have a pretty firm grasp of what is going on himself.

[H2O Man]

19. Right.

Trial lawyers prefer clients who are likeable, because jurors prefer likeable people. The same idea applies to elections.

[Skip Intro]

22. Deja Vu. nt

[redqueen]

24. I think they differ rather substantially on healthcare. (nt)