The Presidential Charisma Rule

Presidential Elections Rule #1:

The one with more charisma will win.

Since presidents have been using television to communicate with the people, the one with the most charisma has won. I’ll start conservatively with 1952, but it really was 1960 when television really took off.

1952Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) – 442Adlai Stevenson (D) – 89
1956Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) – 457Adlai Stevenson (D) – 73
1960John F. Kennedy (D) – 303Richard Nixon (R) – 219
Harry F. Byrd (D) – 15
1964Lyndon B. Johnson (D) – 486Barry Goldwater (R) – 52
1968Richard Nixon (R) – 301Hubert Humphrey (D) – 191
George Wallace (I) – 46
1972Richard Nixon (R) – 520George McGovern (D) – 17
1976Jimmy Carter (D) – 297Gerald Ford (R) – 240
1980Ronald Reagan (R) – 489Jimmy Carter (D) – 49
1984Ronald Reagan (R) – 525Walter Mondale (D) – 13
1988George H. W. Bush (R) – 426Michael Dukakis (D) – 111
1992Bill Clinton (D) – 370George H. W. Bush (R) – 168
1996Bill Clinton (D) – 379Bob Dole (R) – 159
2000George W. Bush (R) – 271Al Gore (D) – 266
2004George W. Bush (R) – 286John Kerry (D) – 251
2008Barack Obama (D) – 365John McCain (R) – 173
2012Barack Obama (D) – 332Mitt Romney (R) – 206

Compare the candidates. The one with more charisma won every time. 60 years and 16 elections worth of data.

The general masses of people don’t get excited about policy. We crave charismatic leadership. We want to have a beer with the candidate. This is why Trump is doing well. I hate him, but he has charisma. He may win over Hillary Clinton if nominated because of this rule.

This isn’t a happy rule, but I think it’s accurate.

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