The Times columnist Roger Cohen wrote, "Trump's perceived character . . .
He's unlikely to falter because of a perceived character fault or ideology.
The bravery and the emotionality of it fit very well with Harry's perceived character".
But "low-information" voters, the ones under discussion here, vote less on votes than on perceived character.
That, at least, was the assumption right up to last weekend when, by stepping completely out of his perceived character, he put behind him a terrible setback and won a major championship in an 18-hole play-off.
Jeb Bush and Chris Christie competed head-to-head to address their perceived character flaws before Republican activists in New Hampshire on Friday during the first big "cattle call" of the party's presidential primary race.
Politicians are supposed to campaign on the issues, and an informed public is supposed to cast its votes based on those issues, with some allowance for the politicians' perceived character and competence.
The points of contention among independents will likely be Mr. Gore's perceived character weaknesses versus the lingering doubts about Mr. Bush's depth, as well as voters' displeasure with the Republican Congress and the party's weaknesses on leading issues.
As a rule of thumb, an indiscretion is truly damaging only if it is discordant with your perceived character: thus teen idols should be discouraged from cruising the men's rooms in public parks, and children's television actors from getting off in adult-movie theatres.
If people start disregarding polling data entirely and voting for candidates based on their programmes, their party affiliations, or even something as nebulous and potentially misleading as their perceived character, that's probably all to the good.Point two: Nonetheless, the gain here would come at a price that's far too high.
