This “charisma” crap is nonsense; I know people who voted for Obama, and they did it because they felt it served their financial self-interests to do so. None of them said he was even likable; they barely watched his speeches, and voted like gibsmedats. He may have seemed charismatic to the permanent welfare underclass, but that’s about it (and that explains why they’re the last ones sticking with him).
The writer mentions some were for him for that reason.