BARACK AND THE WARM FUZZIES

Over the last week, I've been leaning toward Barack Obama but it's not for substantive reasons but emotional ones. I personally find his speeches inspiring and I've been thinking that maybe that's what we need right now. I don't think that Hillary is too divisive because I think the blame for that belongs with the GOP Noise Machine, not Hillary. I do think that Obama might be our version of St. Raygun, not in any policy matters but in the emotional response he elicits in people.

Jerome Karabel at HuffPo writes that Obama seems to attract more independents than Hillary and perhaps that is an indication of his emotional appeal. Prof. Westen has found compelling evidence that emotions outweigh reason when it come to political choices, so the responses of independents to Obama may be a good predictor of success in November.

UPDATE: (h/t Spencer Ackerman) Christopher Hayes at The Nation makes a similar argument for Obama:

The short answer is that Obama is simply one of the most talented and appealing politicians in recent memory. Perhaps the most.