thomas edsall

McCain's Enthusiasm Gap

Presidential campaigns are won and lost on emotion. The candidate who taps into a sense of camaraderie with voters invariably ends up living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, while the loser laments that the country never really got to know him (or her). Consider our most recent also-rans: John Kerry, Al Gore, Bob Dole, Michael Dukakis. Each of these men failed to forge an emotional connection with voters. Indeed, to varying degrees, each was perceived as stiff or phony in comparison to the person he was running against. In short, they lacked the ability to stir up unalloyed enthusiasm in the ...

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