[elhombrelibre]

I think the link below demonstrates the problem we were trying to point out to some on this thread with a Newt candidacy. There is no getting around the fact that many (maybe most) conservative people cannot get past a candidates personal character when they find it coming up short of their expectations. For many people, character trumps ideology. And a candidate cannot relive his life to win over those types of voters.

http://news.yahoo.com/gingrichs-baggage-gives-voters-pause-panhandle-090255621.html

[fightinJAG]

There’s a lot of truth in what you’re saying. Sometimes it’s as simple as likeability. And a person with a bad character is often perceived as not very likeable.

I think this cycle has become all about electability. But even then the character issue matters, because even the voter has decided to do whatever it takes to nominate the person they think can defeat Obama knows that certain types of character flaws undermine a candidate’s electability.

So even if the particular voter were willing to overlook certain things about a candidate, the voter may still conclude that others won’t overlook or that it is of a nature that it could be used effectively against the candidate. So they don’t vote for the guy even though they would otherwise overlook the character trait.