A factor in how people vote that is often not discussed is what we might call the “Likeability and Empathy” factor.
The average voter wants to LIKE a candidate on a personal level, and feel that the candidate cares about his or her life, shows empathy toward the circumstances of one’s life.
This is particularly true of Presidential elections, when a voter realizes that he or she will have to look at and hear the voice of the winner for the next four years, so they want to like the candidate they vote for.
In that regard, Barack Obama has a great advantage over his GOP opponents, as he is eminently likeable, and is working on improving his empathy image, which has been somewhat lacking, and has been criticized.
Mitt Romney is not likeable, even by his opponents in the GOP race for the Presidential nomination, and seems unconcerned about the plight of the average American. John McCain and Mike Huckabee, among others, could not get along with the former Massachusetts Governor in 2007-2008, and this time around, it is clear that Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman certainly dislike him intensely.
But Newt Gingrich is also not likeable, nor is Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, or Ron Paul. They all demonstrate a mean spirited nature which undermines ability of people to trust them. Even Jon Huntsman comes across to many as a bit haughty in personality, leaving only Herman Cain, maybe, as likeable, but after saying people out of work or not rich should blame themselves, very likely to lose that image very quickly!
The problem for these GOP candidates is that they come across as not having any empathy toward average Americans, who are facing a crisis unmatched since the Great Depression, and therefore, with their mean spirited nature, they are not likeable in the way voters expect from their President.
So Barack Obama has a great edge in the “Likeability and Empathy” factor, and this should not be ignored as a factor in the upcoming Presidential Election of 2012.