When it comes to politics and elections, perceptions are everything. Especially with this large group of swing voters who usually don’t pay much attention to politics. Joe came across, perceived as a dignified adult which whopped Trump among independents. As a numbers man, I usually don’t get into personal history. Outside of knowing Biden was a senator from Delaware, then VP and now president, that’s about it. So, with personal history, I’m no better informed than any other swing voter.
I never meet Biden or any other president for that matter, but I liked what I saw and voted for him. Is he an elitist? He hasn’t shown that like Hillary did. Now there are quite a lot of folks whose private and public persona are quite different if not opposite. Biden could fall into that category, I don’t know. But he is likable as a person, at least what we see of him on TV unlike either Trump or Hillary Clinton. Bill Clinton, Obama and Bush II were all likable, all won reelection. Trump wasn’t and lost. Don’t underestimate the likability as a person when it comes to swing voters deciding who to vote for. Charisma also plays a big role.
Independents usually will vote for the candidate they like best as a person as in 2020, Biden over Trump. Or in the case of 2016, against the candidate they dislike the most when both are disliked as a person, Trump over Clinton. It all boils down to perceptions of the candidates.
