re: #308 danarchy

This seems like some sort of logical fallacy to me. Likeability has been a perennial issue in politics. Al Gore and John Kerry were both seen as unlikeable and the fact W whipped them on the “who would you rather have a beer with?” question certainly played a role in his victories.

As a matter of fact, I think the issue of likeability has been raised in basically every presidential election in my memory.

Ayep. One of Nixon’s greatest successes in his two elections was turning the issue on its head by suggesting that as much as people may dislike or distrust him, he at least was “sane” in comparison to the opposition.