What are elections? To quite a lot of folks they’re beauty contests, personality contests, popularity contests. You have 60% of the electorate who will vote for the letter behind a candidate name regardless of who that candidate is. The letter is all that matters, not the candidate. These are your Republican and Democratic base. Then there’s independents who make up roughly 40% of the electorate. Of course, you divide independents into leans, those who lean Democratic, those who lean Republican and those with no leans, what I call pure or true independents.

This last group has a long history of usually voting for the most charismatic or likable candidate. They also decide who wins and who loses at least with presidential elections. Not neither party’s base. Biden was more likeable than Trump, Biden won. Obama had a ton of charisma; he beat both McCain and Romney who weren’t at all charismatic. G.W. Bush wasn’t that charismatic, but he was a down home boy, he won over two statues in Gore and Kerry. Bill Clinton was another top charismatic guy, he won twice over G.H.W. Bush and a dour Dole. Reagan was another charismatic fellow, Carter and Mondale didn’t stand a chance. Carter in 1976 was another down-home boy, likeable, he won over a very uncharismatic, perhaps even dour Ford, etc. etc.

This reminds me what a friend of mine said about the 2016 election. People were tired of business as usual. So, they voted for Trump, a complete unknown, a businessman and reality TV show host. No one knew how he would govern. Clinton on the other hand was well known, perhaps too well known. Everyone knew exactly how she’d govern. More business as usual. Neither candidate was liked nor wanted. While independents wanted both to lose, they went with the candidate they wanted to lose the least. 54% of independents disliked both Clinton and Trump, to them the choice was between two dregs from the bottom of the barrel.

Which brings me back to elections being beauty contests, personality contest. Obnoxious, rude, uncouth won over elitist, aloof, know it all in 2016. Then an old man, dull, boring, uninspiring, no charisma whatsoever. Heck, no personality won over the obnoxious, rude uncouth candidate. But Biden came across as the adult in the room, came across as a candidate who behaved presidential, a likeable chap.

Bottom line, competency means nothing if one can’t win an election, a beauty contest, a personality contest. Which brings me to another question. Why do the Democrats want more and more people to vote when they will be voting more on personality, charisma, like and dislike that stances on the issues or even competency? These people don’t care who wins and they don’t follow politics.

It's high past time that we start electing Americans to congress and the presidency who put America first instead of their political party. For way too long we have been electing Republicans and Democrats who happen to be Americans instead of Americans who happen to be Republicans and Democrats.