Conservative Donnybrook

Who do you like?

We’ve spent a fair amount of time and effort arguing amongst ourselves and with our legions of readers about the relative virtues of one candidate’s position over another’s. In doing so, I believe, we have been completely missing the point of elections in the United States. I will explain by relating a story.

The morning after the election, as I was driving to work, I tuned into a local political analyst’s radio show. A caller asked the host, “How could all of these people have voted for Obama? Didn’t they realize what he stood for?” The host responded, “They voted for him because they liked him better.” As much as the smugness of the answer irritated me at the time, I think he was absolutely correct in his analysis.

Voters voted for Obama because they liked him better than McCain. Any other arguments for or against a candidate are irrelevant in the face of that simple truth. Indeed, Howard Stern’s man-in-the-Harlem-street interviews proves this point beyond a reasonable doubt. The issues didn’t matter to the voters; they were quite willing to attribute virtually any position to their candidate of choice. It was the person they were voting for – not the policy positions.

Think about the last several elections. Bush defeats Kerry and Gore. In both cases, Bush is easily the more likable, charismatic of the pairings. Clinton defeats…well, really anyone. There probably isn’t anyone who was as charismatic as Bill Clinton. I like to think of it as the “Who’d You Like to Drink Beers With Test.” Clinton beats everyone with the possible exception of Reagan.  And look at who the Republicans threw up against him H.W. and Dole. Those men did not stand a chance. The Democrats should have won in 1988 given the fact that they were running against George I. But, who’d they put up against him? Dukakis? No contest. Look at the elections prior to that and ask which candidate was the more charismatic? Reagan/Mondale – Reagan/Carter – Carter/Ford (this one was particularly bad).

It would appear that the electorate, in general terms, stops developing in high school. Whoever would have won the Student Council election popularity contest is likely to be a good candidate for political office now. In one sentence, my local radio host has summed up Basic Truth About Politics #1 Continue Reading »