Posted on 08/29/2012 6:45:25 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
TAMPA, Fla. — The Republicans who are assembled here have been told time and time again that Barack Obama's great advantage over Mitt Romney is likability.
And many of the 15,000 or so journalists who endured the gusts of rain on Monday and groaned in the sun on the 1.5-mile walk from the nearest parking lot to the metal detectors outside the convention press center have been writing and sound-biting that the chief task of the Romney campaign is to introduce Romney's personal background and character to the public to improve his favorability ratings.
Both talking points are true, but only (in an old journalistic phrase) up to a point.
The latest ABC/Washington Post poll, for example, reported that when asked which of the two candidates was more likable, 61% picked Obama and only 27% said Romney. That looks like a huge advantage.
But when you look at what pollsters call their favorable/unfavorables, the contrast is much less distinct. Obama's balance in the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls is 49% favorable, 45% unfavorable.
Romney's are 43% favorable, 43% unfavorable. Weaker, but not a whole lot. A successful convention could put Romney's numbers up around Obama's, or higher — just Team Obama's campaigning seems to have weighed his down.
As for likability, it's more important in some elections than in others. Bob Grady, who worked on George H.W. Bush's 1988 campaign, tells how Bush turned a deficit going into the conventions into a lead in the polls.
Focus groups tested the response to speeches by Bush and his opponent, Michael Dukakis. Dukakis came out ahead. But when the focus groups were shown a generic TV newscaster type reading the two texts, the Bush message was the winner.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
“I don’t like 0bama because he may be a closet muslim, closet homosexual or a closet Kenyan. Who really knows?”
I go with all of the above.
The word that comes to my mind is loathsome. How could anybody whose favorite word is “I” and who carries himself with an air of condescending arrogance be considered “likable”? This is just another myth about the fraud that the media repeats ad infinitum in the hope it is taken as true and the Republicans are too afraid of their own shadows to call them on it. In reality the Emperor is not only buck naked, he’s a boor.
>> exactly what is it about Obama that makes him likable?
Can’t help you there, FRiend... my white-hot animosity for that Kenyan SOB would power several medium-sized swing-state towns, if it could be harnessed and turned into steam...
I’m just puzzled, and I do mean this sincerely without trying to denigrate him at all, exactly what is it about Obama that makes him likable?
I keep reading about this so called, likability time and again, but don’t really see anything there...
It’s a ploy to make us think we are missing something since we don’t approve of how he’s doing the job.
Bringing up like ability with no definition of what is means is worthless.
Very similar to the non specificity of “ Hope & Change”
His daily schedules are a joke. He doesn’t work at all.
I keep reading about this so called, likability time and again, but don’t really see anything there...
He's black. And the prevailing wisdom is: If you don't like Barack Obama, you're a racist.
Consequently, the high "likeability" factor.
It won't mean squat in the voting booth.
I recall a psychological test conducted in the UK some years ago. It was referred to as "Find the Liar".
Several groups were exposed to videos of three people telling a story about themselves. One of them was lying. Which one was it?
Then, the groups were exposed to audio tapes of the same three people telling another story about themselves. Again, which one was lying?
Finally, the groups were exposed to one page stories written by the same three people. Again, one was lying. Who?
The results were rather remarkable. As I recall, the liar was correctly identified by around 15% of the audience in the video, by about 30% of the audience in print...and by over 75% in the audio version.
Good listeners can learn a lot.
However, my own theory is that when people are asked who they voted for, they will invariably say they liked him, too; whereas, yesterday, they would have said they don't like him.
His ‘likability’ is a fabrication just like the rest of him. Same with Michelle’s “elegant fashion”.
When I hear people complaining about their lot in life. I always imagine how they would feel going Blind because there were no treatments available to them. Had my Aunt been born 20 years later, she would have probably been sighted to one degree or another for most of her adult life.
Her Late Husband lost his sight to Doctors who treated his eye irritation with X Rays, seriously. He went from 20/20 vision to seeing only shadows and movement when treated by VA Doctors back in the early 50’s. They didn't have a clue what they were doing and he suffered for it. He had every right to be angry, but he was the nicest person I've ever known.
Even with the lousy cards they were dealt, My Aunt and Uncle never complained as much as the typical Democrats I might have the displeasure of meeting. As my Late Mother always said, some people have too much time on their hands, so they spend their time thinking of things to complain about.
Oh yeah, my Aunt's “Phoniness” Meter accuracy is about pretty close to 90%. She really can call em as she hears em. LOL
My very best to your aunt.
May we all face adversity with such equanimity and grace.
Blindness is my Room 101.
He's taken more vacations in one year than I've taken in ten. (Not an exaggeration...)
I gotta get out more! * grins
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