That's mind boggling, isn't it? Last Saturday my wife and I did some canvassing of suburban Harrisburg (PA is a swing state!). We saw some mucho bucks mansions whose owners declared their preference for Bush and I could understand that. Getting thousands of dollars in tax giveaways may be worth my vote, albeit if I were rich enough to benefit from such giveaways I would still carefully consider the short term benefit of such a giveaway vs. the long term effect on the economy and society.
But we also saw some houses just a notch above the trailer park whose owners were also ardent Bush supporters and I asked myself WHY? Those people clearly do not benefit form Bush's tax giveaways, but they are almost certain to loose from his cuts of social programs. Somebody in their family or circle of friends is likely to risk his/her life in the Iraq adventure which, even under the best case scenario, has zero payoff for people like them.
The onl;y explanation that comes to mind is what sociologists call "status generalization." Under conditions of limited information and uncertainty, people base their judgment of the skills abilities of other people based on superficial appearances that are conventionally associated with particular skills or abilities. Bush talks tough and acts like a Texas rancher, while Kerry is more thoughtful and reserved - and that in the minds of many people is enough to make a judgment. In the same vein, these people buy SUVs because they look tough, even though they have a dismal safety record.
I do not think that US-ers are any different in that respect than any other nation cf. Italy or Israel electing Berlusconi and Sharon, tough-talking Putin gaining popularity in Russia and so on. I do not even think that people who make their decision on a "tough look" are less rational than those who make them based on "thoughtful look" or ADA voting score - since all involve uncertainty and a judgment based on appearance of one kind or another. My main beef is what kind of appearances appeal to people - those of touch machismo and cockiness absolutely turn me off.
PS. I was quite surprised to see as many pro-Kerry signs and bumper stickers in H'burg area as those for Bush. This is a very conservative area, so it is an encouraging sign. Of course, in Baltimore you hardly see any pro-Bush signs and stickers, most of them are pro-Kerry and I would imagine the same is true about Philly. This means that Kerry is likely to carry PA - one of the key swing states (no pun intended).
Wojtek