That's simplistic and short-sighted. People usually talk butterflies, and then turn around and commit horrors, while your crowd will be gazing at the butterflies.

The smooth-spoken actor Obama has successfully branded himself a liberal champion, and now receives the same (similarly fake) adulation on the left as Reagan on the right. When people think "Obama", they think of the smile or nuances speeches (all appearance).

They don't think about the only things that really matter, actions. Obama used espionage laws to imprison journalists. Where was the outrage in the media? People now are calling Trump dictatorial and anti-1A, when all he's done is criticized news outlets in tweets, never (yet) used laws to limit freedom of the press.

This is just an example. Reputation, in the public consciousness, is based on appearances, and you can see how cancerous that becomes, and how easily manipulated it makes you. People not judging others solely by what they do is why democracy is so weakened today.