He has captivated his own people and inspired much of the rest of the Latin American continent, and like Castro before him his influence has had a global reach.
He has captivated the American bourgeoisie without ever offending the highbrows, and he has never said anything that wasn't liberal or progressive.
He has captivated an industry where living fast often means dying young.
If nothing else, he has captivated the basketball world, including players, coaches, fans and Madison Avenue.
He has captivated the nation with a string of last-minute heroics, leaving the public wanting more.
He has captivated some famous folk, including John Kelly, who will join his chamber-pop group tonight, and Lou Reed, who appears with him tomorrow.
He has captivated British audiences for more than a decade, with a run of enormously successful television series which are the kind of high-water marks of comedy in Britain that "Seinfeld" (for which Larry David co-wrote sixty episodes) and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" are for American viewers.
John Edwards honed his speaking style over 20 years as a trial lawyer in small courtrooms in North Carolina, and on the final day of campaigning before the Iowa caucuses, he put those skills to work once again in the small, intimate places where he has most captivated audiences as a campaigner.
He has been captivated, like so many prime ministers before him, by the glamour of the air lobby, for whom ground troops are an embarrassing side issue.
He has been captivated by the idea of a flying automobile for more than 40 years, since that first ride in an Aerocar with its inventor, Moulton B. Taylor, a Navy pilot and missile designer.
