People vote populist because they see themselves in that leader: "they're just like me". If the voters considered who they're voting for as idiots, that would m

People vote populist because they see themselves in that leader: "they're just like me". If the voters considered who they're voting for as idiots, that would mean the voters considered themselves idiots. Instead, people considered them "capable". Not a genius, but "able to get the job done". Charisma instills confidence, and is endearing. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton gathered large bases because of what they were saying, but not because of how they said it. Rather than instilling confidence by charisma, they had to convince people of their abilities. In a way, that's much harder. Charisma is a bit like a cheat code. You can also see this in Bill Clinton, who despite passing some dreadful legislation and being scandalized, people continued to have respect for, because he was very charismatic.