A new study published in the Washington Post suggests that good looks and charisma almost always trump the issues during an election. We’ve all heard the story of the 1960 presidential debate where radio listeners thought Richard Nixon made a better case than John Kennedy but TV viewers called Kennedy the winner.

This study showed subjects several 10-second clips of past debates with the sound off and asked them to predict the winner.  When they watched the clips with the sound on, they were less accurate ­ in fact no better than chance ­ at predicting the outcome.

Something to keep in mind as the election results pour in today.

Daniel Modell