Is his charisma bringing in the cash?
Last November, researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research published a study on politics and charisma.
The study involved a group of Harvard undergraduates who were shown 10-second silent video clips of candidates in 58 gubernatorial elections between 1988 and 2002 -- candidates unfamiliar to the study participants.
The researchers asked the students who they thought had won the election. Almost always the participants picked the winner, even though they hadn't heard him speak or knew anything about his background. "I don't know what it is that people are seeing in these video clips that allows them to forecast the prediction of an election," said Jesse M. Shapiro, the researcher at the University of Chicago involved in the study. "There is something they are seeing that allows them to guess how voters will respond."
Shapiro was reluctant to call it charisma, although his colleague Daniel J. Benjamin, a fellow at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, had no such qualms. He noted: "We found that snap decisions based on charisma are good predictors of election outcomes."
Obama supporters describe him as intelligent, charismatic, unfettered by partisan politics. He has a photogenic family and the body -- at least as seen in a swimsuit -- of a Kenyan distance runner. Charisma comes from the Greek charismata, gift of grace.
German sociologist Max Weber, who studied charisma, described it as a gift of power, leadership or exceptional qualities that set an individual apart and inspired "devotion or enthusiasm" from others
How else to explain Obama's astonishing fund-raiding success? Considering Clinton has been running for president for years and has a huge network of support, it is a coupe de main -- a complete surprise.
Bill Burton, spokesman for Obama's campaign, said 50,000 donors contributed online. Most gave $100 or less. Half gave $25 or less. The total Internet donations: $6.9 million, almost a third of his take. However, most of Obama's money came from traditional Clinton ground such as the movie moguls in Los Angeles and the Wall Streeters in New York. Does Obama's new financial muscle mean some Clintonians will switch?
I wonder, if the Harvard undergraduates were to look at videos of Hillary and Obama, who would they choose?