Of course, the other half of the "court of public opinion" believes that one person has history of successful business dealing, and the other has a career of go

Of course, the other half of the "court of public opinion" believes that one person has history of successful business dealing, and the other has a career of government office grift. Alas, that's not the point: the point is that such character evidence is inadmissible in the court of law.