racist if they told pollsters they did not plan to vote for Bradley.
Race was not the only emotionally charged issue in the 2008
campaign. Age was another. Obama, who fully exploited the
Internet to raise funds, organize his supporters, and get out the
vote, was the clear favorite of young, technologically hip vot-
ers. Obama even advertised on popular video games in the last
weeks of the campaign. Although McCain argued that his age
was evidence of his experience, many potential voters, includ-
ing older ones, thought he was too old to serve as president.
Their fears about his age were exacerbated by his history of
malignant melanoma and by his choice of so green and contro-
versial a running mate. McCain supporters accused the Obama
campaign of exploiting such fears when they called McCain
“erratic” in frequently changing his positions and tactics.
We now know who Americans wanted as their president. But
it is interesting to look back at what qualities Americans said
they were seeking in a president before the election. The na-
tional study on confidence in leadership that I alluded to earlier
asked that question. Five qualities or traits were identified as
extremely important by half or more of the respondents. The
single most important trait was honesty and integrity, named by
66 percent. Next most important—intelligence. Ability to com-
municate was next, followed by willingness to work with people
in both political parties and the ability to bring the American
people together. The least important trait was having served in
the military, which just 13 percent thought extremely impor-
tant. Being likeable was the next lowest in importance (21 per-
cent). Only 23 percent believed experience in Washington was
extremely important. Two other responses are noteworthy. A
strong belief in God was extremely important to 38 percent of
those who responded. Having new ideas was extremely impor-
tant to almost the same number (37 percent).
Epilogue to the Twentieth-Anniversary Edition