Minds yes, but candidates go for hearts

John Edwards wears jeans on the stump. Mike Huckabee plays bass guitar with local...

John Edwards wears jeans on the stump. Mike Huckabee plays bass guitar with local bands before his speeches and all the main candidates have been accompanied by family or people close to them on the campaign trail. Their aim is to win perhaps the oldest game in a US presidential race 8212; likability.

Candidates trumpet their voting records, their experience and their strong principles. But unless they pass a basic test of likability, their chances of making it all the way to the White House are slim.

8220;Image is extremely important. Issues always come in a dismal last,8221; said Saint Louis University political science professor Ken Warren. 8220;Most Americans don8217;t follow politics very closely.8221;

Before the primary elections that will determine who will represent the Democratic and Republican parties in the November 2008 contest for the presidency, all the candidates have tailored their personal narratives to woo specific constituencies. To try to project the authenticity voters respond to, they must also appear comfortable in the many contrived situations they encounter on the campaign trail.

In one measure of likability, a higher percentage of Democratic voters associated the terms 8220;friendly8221; and 8220;down to earth8221; with Barack Obama than with Hillary Clinton or John Edwards, according to a Pew Research survey.

On the Republican side, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani scored higher for those traits than rivals John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson the survey found. Other polls have shown that Clinton is more likely to polarise voters than other candidates and that people who dislike her are prone to hold that opinion strongly.

Lynn Kartchner, a gun shop owner in the ranching town of Douglas on the Arizona-Mexico border, said in an interview: 8220;She8217;s a horrible person just like her husband.8221; But Michael Dimock of the Pew centre feels a candidate8217;s ability to seem friendly is not necessarily a decisive factor in swaying voters.

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McCain is perceived by many Republican voters as a strong leader. As a result, he may not be harmed by a parallel perception that he is less friendly than other candidates, Dimock said.

The same poll that rated Clinton as less friendly also rated her 8220;tough8221; and 8220;smart8221; to a majority of Democratic voters. The key is to reinforce the positive characteristics that people already associate with a candidate,8221; said Dimock.

Candidates often cherry pick parts of their personal stories to project favourable images of themselves. The possibility that Clinton could become the first woman President of the US has a particular resonance for many women and older voters.

Obama has presented his life story as an asset, while other candidates have used battles with ill health as reasons for voters to like them.