How much do you rely on your "gut" when it comes to who

[cali]

to support for president?

I admit that my "gut feelings" do play into that process. On a purely gut level, I don't care for Clinton or Edwards. I can't tell you how much of a part it plays, but it's not insignificant.

[riqster]

1. I listen to it

...regrettably, it has gotten too large to ignore. :(

However, I always make my final decision on facts. Usually, the facts and the gut are in agreement by decision time.

[illinoisprogressive]

2. I use instinct as a beginning step. Something needs to peak interest to begin with.

[mtnsnake]

3. Quite a bit. I know that my heart told me a long time ago who to back, at least in the Primaries

Dennis Kucinich.

My brain tells me that Kucinich probably doesn't stand a chance of winning, but I know I'd be going against my heart, gut, or whatever, if I didn't support him in the primaries.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3696132

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. "Gut feel"? No. I do have a bias which infers future actions from past behavior.

I couldn't stand GWB, ever.

Observations have created a useful bias. If he were to do something good or to say something articulate (it could happen) I'd immediately discount it as an anomaly.

[rucky]

5. There's not a single Dem candidate who is not qualified to be Prez

after I reached that conclusion, everything else is gut feeling.

[THUNDER HANDS]

6. i look for electability and the potential for being a great president

which is why I chose Kerry last time and Obama this time.

Kerry would have been a great president.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

7. millions of years of evolution have given us some profound but intangible ways of assessing people

One of our most sophisticated brain functions is reading other people. Unfortunately (for political purposes) that capacity evolved for face-to-face interactions in small groups, so our gut level reactions to TV characters, which national politicians are, are unreliable... we react to a combination of selective video and to the consensus gossip that surrounds it.

I have always had a deep negative reaction to Clinton and Edwards. I think they are rotten people in some ways.

I thought Obama was likable for a while, caught up in the consensus building gossip circle. But after more observation and reading he began to strike me the worst of any candidate... a rather shallow megalomaniac.

Since I think all three of the top-tier are loathsome, I am off the hook, gut-wise. In a three-way battle of grotesque personality disorders I'll take Clinton.

The only one I feel warmly toward is Biden, so he's my real candidate... I guess my gut is decisive in that choice. (But my gut is reigned in by reason... I don't expect Biden to win anything.)

[bunnies]

8. More than I'd like to admit probably.

Have you ever met someone that, for some unknown reason, you instantly didnt like? I have. And for me, getting to know that person, 9 times out of 10 confirms my initial gut instinct.

Hillary Clinton has been that to me since the moment I first became aware of her back in the early 90's. She strikes me as highly manipulative and no matter what, has no chance of getting my primary vote. I've had quite enough of a president I don't trust.

Obama, otoh, strikes me as straightforward, honest & with integrity. And while I dont always agree with what he says or does... I consider him for that reason. Of course, I admire Gravel for the same reason. ;)

[quinnox]

9. Picking candidates

Its like looking at artists paintings and deciding what you like and dislike, its mostly about the gut. Hillary has always appealed to me strongly on that level, she has the star quality, something special and unique, and of course she has the intellectual brilliance and qualifications to back up my gut instinct.