2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: CHARISMA IS THE KEY

     Last week's second 2020 Democratic Debates brought up a lot of issues as usual, but keep coming back to  an important consideration: which candidate seems the most electable. Or somewhat electable. Or even a little electable. Those are hard questions to answer, because the election is so far away and things change. One situation may alter the election outcome a week before the vote. It's not impossible.

     Yet there are some things that may never change a candidate's electability. This critic learned decades ago as a student in Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson's class that people vote for a President based on the individual's  knowledge, trustworthiness and charisma. And what is the one characteristic that's the most important? CHARISMA. ( Jamieson is now Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center.)

     Those three traits still hold true as far as many people are concerned. Meaning: charisma is still the most salient although such a quality may not be recognized as such or expressed in this precise way. 

     For example, how many times have you heard the word, "charisma," used to describe  a current candidate? Not many. Nor has many political experts suggested that charisma may win the presidency for a particular candidate. Experience, yes. Values, yes. Strength / feistiness, yes. Ideology, yes. Charisma, no.

     But what about charisma? That's the most difficult element to define or  feel or see, although there are some movie stars who have long been known for charisma, like Robert Redford and Denzil Washington (where are the women?). There are a few past presidents who had charisma, too, including JFK and Bill Clinton. ( Candidate Gary Hart  ran specifically on charisma yet Hugh Jackman who played him in the Hollywood film, "The Front Runner,"  certainly didn't have it). In the end,  Hart's charisma didn't help him win due probably to his extramarital affair.

     Do the current Presidential candidates have what it takes to win on charisma alone or, more likely, in combination with other factors? How about Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Pete Buttigieg?

     What's intriguing about all this is how to define charisma, and if it has different meanings for different people. Remember when we needed to give a meaning to pornography to determine its legality? " I'll know it when I see it" some bright observer pronounced, and that expression has stayed wth us not only for pornography but probably will work for charisma as well.

     Based on this critic's personal picks, here's a list of traits which seems "charismatic" and does not derive from a self-help book.  First, HOW a person expresses his or herself: attractive appearance, meaning someone who is not experiencing a "bad hair day;" a pleasant voice that sounds real ( Warren's high pitch voice counts as authentic for her);  a mildly animated voice that keeps people listening; good eye contact which avoids staring and suggests real interest; appropriate gestures that don't call attention to themselves.

     "Natural" appears to be a key word. Extreme elements that call attention to themselves are not natural, including the showing of emotions, like passion which may not come off as authentic.

     Here's another list which appears charismatic. WHAT a person says: If you tend to agree with the individual regarding his/her values, beliefs, attitudes; if the person conveys trustworthiness and knowledge ( part of the original factors that voters use when picking a candidate ).

     Granted, this second list is short, yet complex. It could go on and on, but why should it? 

     It just proves that charisma is elusive and not prone to scientific exploration. Maybe we should judge its qualities on another determination someone came up with a few years ago about a presidential candidate. Would you like to go out and have a beer with that person?

     All we can maybe say is that charisma is a human trait ( and therefore also natural), not limited to race, gender, sexual preference etc. It is also, according to  the dictionary, magical, magnetic, captivating, and OOMPH.

     Its opposite meaning suggests repulsion. Which brings us to the question: does President Trump have charisma? Consider a common observation which seems especially relevant: 

       Charisma is in the eye of the beholder.