Readers of FR and other blogs are the political junkies and up on all the details of all these candidates. That’s why Fred would do well in a Free Republic primary but not in the general primaries (thus far). The average voter is not paying attention to anything other than TV commercials and what someone they know says about a candidate.
Correct. Except for the part about the TV commercials - when one comes on they change the channel or hit the mute button, and go get a drink.
Modern ideological politics is insufferable. Most sane human beings are utterly unwilling to put up with it for fifteen seconds at a stretch.