This is a brilliant observation, Old Guy. It seems to work all the way back to 1976, or maybe even back to Nixon.
Perhaps as television has become more and more ingrained in the culture, the likability factor has become more and more important.
And you are correct that little lenin has successfully tricked the country into thinking that a person even more sinister than Nixon is “likable”. It seems to be a major part of the con job.
Now, as far as the candidates other than Sarah go, I’m not sure I agree with your assessment completely. Rubio is certainly likable (although not a front-runner). Other likeable people include Romney, Pawlenty and Pence. Other people, of course, will have different opinions. And none of the candidates are as cringe-worthy as most leading light Dems (Schumer, Reid, the Witch, Franks, Waxman (oh gawd), the list is endless)
You also got me thinking about Palin’s recent strategy. If she agrees with you that likability is key, then her Alaska TV show is a brilliant move; even better than Fox, which is mainly watched by older people and political junkies. Note that the pundits have uniformly panned it. Perhaps she is the one actually playing chess instead of tic tac toe.
