Word: charisma
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...could certainly use a sexy model to turn heads its way. Only a few years ago, VW was riding high with iconic cars like the Jetta and New Beetle, vehicles that delivered performance and brand charisma. But BMW's Mini swiped the Beetle's cool factor, and lots of competitors have been making midsize value machines better than Jetta. Sales in the U.S. plunged 37% from 2001 through 2005, when VW sold just 224,195 cars. With a market share of just 1.4%, it's outsold even by Kia. The North American business is a bleeder too, losing nearly...
...junior Congressman with little name recognition in Tennessee beyond his native Memphis has managed to force the state's thoroughly entrenched Republicans into a panicked sweat is a testament to Republican overconfidence and Ford's charisma. Political observers say Republicans - and even some Democrats - were all too certain that no amount of support from national Democrats could convince conservative Tennesseans to send a young black candidate from a family tainted by political corruption to the Senate. Against all political wisdom and warnings that he was throwing money away, Ford, who had no primary opponents, launched his campaign in April, even...
...with one ad after another, presenting himself as a conservative, middle-of-the-road Democrat who supports posting the Ten Commandments in public buildings, opposes same-sex marriage, and reminding Tennesseans that during his tenure in Congress he supported $5.5 trillion in federal tax cuts. Thanks to a personal charisma reminiscent of Bill Clinton's and a marathon schedule that includes visiting the most remote areas in the state, Ford inoculated himself against charges that he was an unwelcome, out-of-touch liberal from Memphis...
There are various explanations for this trend, from the skill of evangelicals in marketing religion to the charisma of their leaders. But their success also points to a hunger for the product they are selling, a hunger that goes beyond any particular issue or cause. Each day, it seems, thousands of Americans are going about their daily rounds - dropping off the kids at school, driving to the office, flying to a business meeting, shopping at the mall, trying to stay on their diets - and coming to the realization that something is missing. They are deciding that their work, their possessions...
...astonishingly large crowd for a beautiful Saturday morning, but Obama--whose new book, The Audacity of Hope, is excerpted starting on page 52--has become an American political phenomenon in what seems about a nanosecond, and the folks are giddy with anticipation. "We know he's got the charisma," says Bertha McEwing, who has lived in Rockford for more than 50 years. "We want to know if he's got the brains." Just then there is a ripple through the crowd, then gasps, cheers and applause as Obama lopes into the gym with a casual, knees-y stride. "Missed...