Our culture has a frightening capacity to overlook character altogether when idolizing role models. Elvis was a weak, self-indulgent bum, and Michael Jackson was a drug addicted child molester, but these failings present no impediment to their being worshipped like living gods. When did we quit caring about character?
Hollywood, a group which today complains bitterly about being pirated while itself being a product of pirating, has brought us the culture of celebrity. The image that flashes by on the screen or stage is all that matters. Pay No Attention To The Monsters Behind The Curtain!
It probably started with Hollywood and spread to the political realm under the guidance of various strategists who saw the potential for "celebritizing" their candidates.