Gimme a Little Feeling: I was listening to Minnesota Public Radio yesterday and I heard a story about Gerladine Ferraro, the 1984 Vice Presidential candidate who came to talk about that campaign oh so long ago. It was a bit much to hear. She balmed the Republicans for dirty tactics and then shared this story.

She was in Michigan talking to autoworkers who were supporting Reagan. She explained angrily that it was Democrats who supported the bailout of Chrysler to protect American jobs. One man raised his hand and explained that the reason he was supporting Reagan was because "he made us (America)stand tall." You could hear the clucking of tounges in the audience.

Ferraro and quite possibly her running mate, Walter Mondale don't get it. Americans are an emotional bunch and they not only vote with their minds, but with their hearts. In fact, I would dare say they vote more with their hearts than their minds. Reagan's policies may have went against the autoworkers, but they also wanted someone who could make them feel good about themselves again and they were willing to vote for someone who possibly was against them on every other issue because of that one reason.

Friday's Salon has a great article about this concerning John Kerry. I'm not necessarily swayed by emotion, but even I think the man is stiff. If he wants to win in November, he has to find a way to connect with people like me. He has to show that sunny optimism that Reagan and Clinton showed. He has to make people vote their hopes because that is the only way the Dems will win.