I don't presume to singlehandedly don the mantle of "sophisticated voter," but for me and for a lot of voters who are passionately engaged in the political process, the personal appeal of a given candidate is very secondary to the candidate's policy positions. The Clinton Charm never really resonated for me, largely because my vote was very much not contingent on whether or not it worked. What mattered was that what Clinton was going to do in office was a hell of a lot more palatable than what Bush the Elder or Dole was going to do.
To me, the charge that Gore and Kerry have no core beliefs has little to do with the actual (or even perceived) vacuity of their belief systems--it being hard to have fewer stongly-held principles than the average Republican. Rather, it's an ongoing part of a sort of political meta-story, in which the Republicans are regular guys that you can relate to, standing up to effete jerks who care more about technicalities than doing the right thing. It's the Animal House/PCU/Revenge of the Nerds/Back To School plot with an adult cast: the Slobs vs. the Snobs, starring John Kerry as The Crusty Old Dean.
