Personality

Matt is more of a proponent of personality in candidates than I am. I admit that charisma is an important factor in a candidate, but think about the two candidates that Oprah has allowed to "sit on her couch": George W. Bush and Barack Obama. These two candidates obviously have vastly different policies. There's no reason why a reasonable voter would want to support both of them. (But then, voters aren't reasonable, are they?)

I'm all for candidates that have charisma -- they get people excited about voting and what the government does. But the vast inconsistency in the Oprah voter suggests a complete lack of knowledge about policy. And that's what I think can be dangerous.