The appeal is that if trained properly they are a great family dog. The very traits that make pitbulls dangerous in the wrong hands are the traits that make them a great pet in the right hands. Pitbulls have an incredibly high pain tolerance - so if trained properly they are great with kids because kids can tug on their ears, ride them, and step on their feet without the pitbull biting out of fear - like most small dogs do. Further, they are very tenacious, which is a good trait in a well trained dog because you can train them to do virtually anything, and they have undying loyalty to their family - so long as they are trained properly. Pitbulls should be thought of like a gun. They are good things to have around in most cases, but in the wrong hands there will be serious trouble.
It's good to have at least one other person here who knows something more about pitbulls than what the "news" tells them. I'm going to go home today and tell bella that she's a "four legged land shark", I'm sure she'll lick my face right before she freaks out and destroys me.