During the Democrat Primary, the media had decided that the best choice was a senile old white dude that used to be cool, because all the other contestants were so a goddamn lame. Warren is a fake Native American too uncomfortable in her own skin. Harris is a shifty former pig that's uncomfortable in a political party with a voter based she gladly sent to prison for tiny infractions. Bernie Sanders is an old Larry David without the comedy, and Bootylicious is a hobbit with a inferiority complex. Only Tulsi Gabbard was cool.
I don't disagree with you on the argument of how charisma plays into elections, but you're letting your preference for conservatives skew your evaluation of Democratic primary candidates. Gabbard got a national profile
because of her proximity to Bernie's 2016 campaign, but now is not liked among Democrats and widely seen as an opportunist seeking better fortunes among conservatives. She got 0.7% in the 2020 Democratic primary not because she is a Strong Charismatic Leader, but because voters didn't care for what she was selling or how she was selling it.
At any rate, charisma isn't a partisan attribute. It really doesn't have anything to do with political positions. Trump has a certain kind of charisma himself even if he is a mean-spirited bully. Obama, Clinton and Reagan all had it too. Biden and Harris don't (imo). Gabbard has even less charisma than them. If charisma was all it took to win an election, Trump should have beat Biden.
