This from The Note on the results of the Republican primary in Florida:
"Romney held an advantage over the half of voters who made their decision on the issues, but McCain countered with a strong showing among the remaining half who preferred leadership and personal qualities," ABC's Peyton Craighill and Brian Hartman write in summing up the exit polls.
A reminder that most of us, most of the time, do not make decisions entirely rationally. This is especially true when we vote for candidates. As political scientists John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse note in Stealth Democracy, Americans assume politicians are self-interested, we don't like politics, and we vote to punish those who appear to be cheating. We hate to be taken for suckers, and we are great at sniffing out insincerity. We vote for those who we think are strong, honest and who put problem-solving over politics. And we will vote on our perceptions of these attributes over our expressed interest in the issues.
Just ask passionate Obama supporters about their policy differences with Clinton, or any Democrat who supports McCain about the Senator's position on choice.
