But there's a trait that's far more important than personality. It's a quality of leadership that people notice when they get their first extended glimpse of candidates in debates. Journalists and the political community usually aren't aware of it. They've seen so much of the candidates beforehand that temperament slips under their radar. The press obsesses on how smart candidates are.
Voters watching a presidential debate are more interested in temperament.
He meant the way FDR carried himself, his sense of ease. FDR was sober without being pompous, serious without appearing to take himself too seriously. In the 1980 debate, Deaver says, Reagan came across similarly. The media and the Beltway crowd missed this entirely, thinking Carter was smarter than Reagan and naturally carried the debate. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich thinks you can catch a peek of a candidate's temperament by turning off the sound on your television.