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Charisma and Presidential Elections

By: keven (Diary)  |  January 26th, 2011 at 05:19 PM  | 

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I have a question. Name me the last candidate in a general election who won the Presidency who had less charisma then their opponent? Think about it. My guess is Truman over Dewey. But I don’t really know much about Dewey. If not, you might have to go back to the 1920′s since Roosevelt was very charismatic.

What is charisma? To me, its magnetism. You know it when you see it. A bigger then life persona. Looks, originality, humor, coolness, charm, and likability are all factors. Not being a dorky, stiff, bore are important too. Who do you pay attention to when they enter a room. Who do ya want to have a beer with, etc.

Here are my ratings from one to ten……

 

 
Obama7-McCain4
Bush Jr7-Kerry3
Bush Jr7-Gore3
Clinton8-Dole3
Clinton8-Bush Sr4
Bush Sr4-Dukakis2
Reagan9-Mondale4
Reagan9-Carter5
Carter5-Ford4
Nixon5-McGovern3
Nixon5-Humphry4
Johnson6-Goldwater4
Kennedy9-Nixon5
Eisenhower8-Stevenson4
Eisenhower8-Stevenson4

Don’t think charisma is a major factor? Tell that to the kids who voted for Obama. Do tanks and surf boards ring a bell? I like Ike? Have a beer with GW. Al Bore. And nobody can deny the star appeal of Kennedy and Reagan. We live in the TV age and we want to win. So how would the list of potential Republican candidates rate in charisma? Which candidates can approach or beat Obama’s 7?

COMMENTS

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  • swvapatriot

    I think all of the Repub/Tea Party females are 10′s

    • fpete13527
      • slider55

        like to face in 2012. Why ? He has been there and done that, and learned from his experience. Romney would tie Obama in factual knots. Obama will retain the full support of the usual knee jerk voters. Minorities, Jews, and the hip under 30 crowd.
        Anyone with a real job, or the hope of getting one, and anyone with a family, is going to have to think long and hard before pulling the lever for Obama again.

        • Superheater

          Romney is the least able to credibly articulate an effective argument against Obamacare. Even if you ascribe to the notion that the only reason to oppose Obamacare is that its not Constitutional at the federal level, but at the state level its fine-Romneycare has been the pilot project against government healthcare-complete with all of the unintended and undesireable effects that were warned about in advance.

          When the Obamacare burr is under everybody’s saddle and either being accepted as constitutional under “unenumberated penumbras” of the Constitution or narrowly decided (aka the recent decision on Sarbanes-Oxley)-our answer will be Obamacare at the State Level?

          That’s my problem with Mitt-well, that and is trout-out-of-water flipflopping on social issues.

          I’m not looking for another Ivy-League, political legacy (aka Bush 45).

          • Common_Cents

            but to my knowledge he hasn’t.

            He could have said:

            1. MA is a state and states rights to try whatever is different than national mandates.

            I think he may have already brought this up?

            2. He could have said, hey, I tried, nothing wrong with trying and making mistakes, but this is a mistake and I’ve learned from it. Lesson learned. This is why I would not support national mandates for the following reasons: (Name whatever problems have resulted in MA)

            I see that is his only way out of the Romneycare issue. Time is of the essence.

          • catt

            He’s defended it much too vigorously for much too long. He’s argued that the problems that have resulted in MA were because it was mismanaged after he left not because it was a bad idea in the first place.

            My hunch is that he was hoping the Democrats would fail again to pass any significant health care reform … and then he would run in 2012 with his “success” in MA as the argument for why he would be uniquely qualified to solve the problem of health care reform on the national level. That would explain the way he embraced and defended it as much and as vigorously as he did.

            His long record of flip flopping probably explains why he couldn’t do a 180 and start distancing himself from it once he was blindsided by Obamacare being modeled so very closely on Romneycare.

          • StandardCandle

            In 2008 primaries Romney did come out and say the Massachusetts Model was not meant to be a national model, ever.

            Its a fair assessment that it was mismanaged after he left… and provisions that would prevent some of the biggest problems in MA were removed by Democrats.

            It is also entirely fair to say “He should have known they’d do that, considering he knew he wasn’t going to run for the Governor’s office again”

            Obamacare is not modeled after Romneycare… although it is correct to say the personal mandate for insurance was inspired by Romneycare. The mandate in Obamacare in an abomination and was meant to remove the free market for carriers, but Romneycare’s mandate actually encouraged free market under the original provisions.

            Now before you go calling me names… I’m a Mike Pence fan… and no I wouldn’t support Romney in the primary, but if by a longshot that he’s in the general for 2012 I will support him.

          • Superheater

            “In 2008 primaries Romney did come out and say the Massachusetts Model was not meant to be a national model, ever.”

            So what? Statism at the state level, is still Statism.

            “Obamacare is not modeled after Romneycare”

            I disagree, centralized control, compulsion, are the same playbook.

          • StandardCandle

            no need to respond to me…

            I get what you’re saying….

            For you Romney = Communism.

        • Spartan4Life

          Don’t get me wrong. I think Obama is eminently beatable.

          But, so far this list of potential candidates is leaving me a little discouraged. I think the names that are bandied about so far reads like who’s who list of folks who have absolutely zero chance of beating even a weakened Obama.

          What people on here seem to discount is that you not only have to beat Obama but you have to take on the entire MSM, as well. Any weakness or baggage will be amplified to become the narrative of our nominee. We need someone fresh, good looking, articulate, and charismatic to take on the President, even if I I think the guy is an evil buffoon.

          I may like Haley Barbour, Mike Pence, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Tim Pawlenty, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Jim Demint, Michelle Bachman, John Bolton, Rudy Giuliani, Paul Ryun, and Bobby Jindal but 30 years of following politics tells me not one of them can win.

          In 2008 I voted for Romney but I don’t think he can win, either. I think the media will see to it that defending the Massachusetts healthcare law and explaining his multiple positions on abortion will be the entire arc of his campaign. I’m not even sure I’m comfortable with his “evolution”.

          I’m intrigued by Daniels and Thune but I am not sure either has enough fire in the belly to do what is necessary to win this thing or even if they’ll run at all.

          The GOP has a long history of misreading the electorate. I believe the electorate thinks Obama is a lightweight who is underqualified for his job. In order to beat him you will have to take him on. None of this, “With all due respect….” stuff. And then you will have to stand up to the heat. It will take someone really, really special to fill this role. So far I am unimpressed.

          • Common_Cents

            Attitudes toward both parties are low and will continue to decline but any 3rd party wouldn’t be strong enough to replace, therefore weakening the party. It’s more likely a 3rd party will hurt the Reps/conservatives as the lefties are good lil soldiers taking orders. Hopefully the Tea party movement continues to exert influence and remake the Republican party from within rather than splinter off.

            Remember Ross Perot getting 19% of the vote with his charts and pointer. Someone like Donald Trump could be a factor in fitting this mold with more of a China is evil, populist push. Trump says he’d run as a Republican but what would he do if he didn’t get the nomination? He might run as independent for the heck of it to prove a point making it much harder for Reps to win.

            Conservative psyops should be sowing the seeds in the far left for a left wing splinter party :)

          • concap

            A 3rd party will not be an issue in 2012.

            The only new real threat in 2012 is to the Tea Party movement.

            Moderate Democrats forced to moved to the right-left wing of the Republican Party have joined forces with the Social First Conservatives that refuse to move to the right.

            This will give the remaining Conservatives the power needed to place who they want in office.

            Unless the number of Tea Party members increase ten fold, I fear we will end up with a Fiscal light (Bush) in office for 2012.

            We need someone that is just as far to the right Constitutionally as well as fiscally, than Obama is to the left on spending. Unless the Tea Party movement has total control over who gets elected, this will not happen.

            Another Bush will totally crash the economy and guarantee a 3rd Party run in 2016.

            In order to save what’s left of America, that Party will do away with every thing outside of Article I, Section 8

          • keven

            I have heard Mitch Daniels has no charisma. I can’t vouch for this since I have only seen him for about two minutes on TV. I was curious what others thought about the different candidates in this area, but unfortunately few takers.

            I agree with your belief we need a fighter, cause the thing people don’t understand is how ugly the Dems and media will get if it looks like Obama is going down in the last few weeks. Last time, he had a 5+ point lead the last 6 weeks. They never had to bring out the really dirty tactics. It could end up being the scariest few weeks in the history of politics.

          • aesthete

            Very smart guy with a dry sense of humor, and one can connect with him and what he says relatively easily. He is far from charismatic in the traditional sense, though: he’s pretty short and you won’t get much hyperbole or inspiration from him. I’m probably the last guy you want to ask about charisma, though, as the value I place on it in and of itself is virtually nil.

          • Spartan4Life

            Even looks like him a little bit. Think his nickname was “Cool Cal”. That is a persona that can be appealing if it is played properly. Not going to have people running through walls for him but seems confident in a quiet kind of way. Good with the facts and numbers, also.

        • catt

          Out of the credible candidates Romney is probably the one Obama would *most* like to face in 2012. With Obamacare potentially Obama’s single greatest vulnerability what would Obama like better than to have than the opponent who would have the hardest time exploiting that issue?

          Mitt is *still* struggling to come up with a coherent answer as to why Romneycare doesn’t completely disqualify him. He’s declining invitations to meet with Tea Party leaders and to attend conservative meetings precisely to avoid the question.

          I almost feel sorry for Mitt. If it weren’t for Romneycare/Obamacare he’d easily have the best shot at being the candidate and he’d be a formidable opponent in the general election. He’s got the money and the name recognition and the charisma. To what ever extent Mormonism would have been an issue four years ago it’s much less of an issue now and Mitt can thank Glenn Beck for blazing that trail.

          The reality is that Obamacare/Romneycare makes him a non-starter. He would nullify the one issue that many people think should be the central focus of the GOP campaign.

          • keven

            Mitt Romney could have changed a lot of minds and done tremendous good in the fight against health care if he actually would have come out fighting. He would have had tremendous credability on the issue. Instead he did two short interviews talking about states rights or something and went back into hiding. He could have lead, he didn’t.

            Romney might have actually been able to stop Obamacare. Unfortunately, we will never know what would have happened if he had fought against it hard.

          • earlgrey

            He was too busy protecitng himself and his Presidential aspirations to be bothered to tell America the real truth of the health care scheme.

      • Superheater

        “Romey don’t play that”…

    • fpete13527

      I think charisma is getting underplayed and I agree it is critically important.

      Integrity, responsibility, conservative voting record across the board, principles, and toughness are very important IMO. However, I believe that star power quality charisma must be a big part though, even if poeple don’t want to hear that.

      The closest candidate meeting all so far, IMO, may be Cain, however I think there can still be another who emerges.

      • StandardCandle
        • Common_Cents

          to slick prompter reading charisma, opting for more of a toned down honest integrity. But I think its a bit early tho as the MSM is covering for Obama in how bad things are out there. Definitely this would be a factor in 2016 if he God forbid, got re-elected.

          • StandardCandle

            It wasn’t just Obama “charisma” that got us here… it was years of RINOs hiding behind charisma and electability that allowed for an environment where Obama was taken seriously in the primaries.

          • Common_Cents

            to save us from ourselves, especially going all in for someone after a couple speeches. This shows desperation and sets us up for problems.

            The best thing we can do is join ColdWarrior and get involved at the grass roots level to change the party, and then DC from within.

          • aesthete
          • StandardCandle
  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    Goldwater had much much more charisma than LBJ. LBJ was riding on the emotionalism from Kennedy’s death and is a special case.

    LBJ was a big stupid looking, hick talking redneck who regularly spit our curse words and racial slurs.

    /also if you go back a little farther you would have the person who had the least charisma of all presidents and yet was one of our best. Calvin Coolidge.

    • keven

      I am not totally disagreeing with you kyle8. LBJ vs Goldwater was before I was even born. You might be right. However, from my memory of videos of Goldwater, he came across a bit stiff and overly cerebral. Maybe it was just the glasses though. As for LBJ, I thought of him as a bigger then life southern Dem. A jerk? Definately. However a character of sorts. I thought he had a lot of style and flare about him. Kind of like some politician from a 1940′s or 1950′s film. Or maybe it was just the ten gallon hat.

      As for Calvin Coolidge, I think he was one of the 3 best Presidents of the last 140 years. Love the Silent Cal. However, that was the silent era. Not sure he could ever get elected in this day and age.

      Just in case there is any misunderstanding, only talking about electability here.

      • 6eorge Jetson

        Any election involving an incumbent is basically a referendum on the incumbent.

        What do the two incumbents that lost have in common?

        Carter: Stagflation
        Bush Sr: Recession

        Now, I agree that charisma was a crucially important asset for Obama in his 2008 election. But then he was running on Hope and Change™ and “I’m better than the sitting President”. Unless he can figure out a way to run against himself, that’s not going to work in 2012.

        In 2008, we were running against Barack Obama the young Mike Tyson. It would have taken a very charasmatic candidate to beat Zero. (As well as the willingness to point out the role Fannie & Freddie had in the credit meltdown…something McCain barely mention as his campaign led by $2 million Fannie/Freddie advocacy group consultant Rick Davis.)

        In 2012, we are running against the old, tomato-can Mike Tyson. We need a solid candidate, not one that’s all hat and no cattle.

        • aesthete

          Moreover, elections like ’00 and ’04 were quite close, so I don’t know how one can call charisma entirely explanatory.

          • keven

            I agree. I don’t think its entirely explanatory either. Just a major factor thats got a 15 game winning streak.

          • aesthete

            for LBJ, Nixon, and Carter, as well. For that matter, Nixon probably beat JFK fair and square.

      • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

        here are some you tubes of the colorful old jackass.

        in this one he admits to committing assassination
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeNv_62v6WQ&feature=related

        in this one he is using the N word
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1rIDmDWSms&feature=related

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3GT9UN7nDo&feature=related
        In this one he belches loudly and talks about his nuts and his bunghole

        Sadly there is no video of the old reprobate picking his poor dog up by the ears.

  • slider55

    Does anyone think we can afford to wait and hope for a “new face” to gain traction with the public, against an Incumbant with a Billion Dollar war chest. Everyone can be allowed their favorite, but remember this who is most ELECTIBLE by the general public…. that includes the independents who now always swing national elections. If anyone thinks anybody but Romney can pull in the Independent vote, they are tragically mistaken.

  • Wayne

    This is a different time… there are a great number of the frustrated youth that are educated and well informed, plugged into the information age…

    They know their American heritage has been swept aside to user in the age of the statist. There is a great awakened silent majority..that don’t need charisma, they, like the disenchanted youth, need to hear the language that will illuminate the darkened path back to the light of a free world.

    The Truth… The Constitution…The Founding Fathers!!! The American Dream.. alive and pounding in the hearts of our young, who want to grow up in the land of the free and the home of the brave…

    I’m just saying…. THE TRUTH IS CHARISMATIC…

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