but all the research on this shows that they feel it at clinton rallies, too. it's a common experience for attendees at large gatherings for a candidate (or rock star or celebrity or or or).
i'm not really clear on what you mean by charisma, though. i know you're using it in the weberian sense, but i don't see how obama fits the weberian sense. the watered down meaning of the word as applied to reagan, sure -- and even then as others have pointed out his speeches on the campaign trail aren't that great, poor facsimiles of other great speakers. he really doesn't have the right cadence and he so totally tries to avoid sounding like a preacher lest he be pegged as a sharpton or jackson that he often seems flat -- refusing to reach the crescendos that you need to reach to be effective and whip people into a frenzy.
anyway, i'd be interested in more of this analysis of weberian charisma and obama.
k
p.s. -- i also think you should get the bottle of a laguvian max owes me as i think you're right: it no longer seems inevitable that either one will pick the other as running mate. i think she could get away with it. but he'd never do it because his following wouldn't have it.
http://cleandraws.com Wear Clean Draws ('coz there's 5 million ways to kill a CEO)