Man if Al Gore was elected we may have had a shot in 2000. But I guess Florida voted to grow gills.
Not everyone sizes up the issues.
In one election someone even proposed a litmus test "who would you rather have a beer with?". In other it's been "who would you invite into your home". Neither are ever going to happen, but it's easier to tug at people's emotions than get them to listen to information.
Blair got a fair few votes as he had a nice smile, the Tories tried to demonise him with their "demon eyes" campaign. Go back further and there were elements of the same in Michael Foot losing election against Thatcher. He famously attended a national event in very poor weather and wore a brand new coat, chosen by his wife, that the right wing press tried -- very, very successfully -- to brand as a donkey jacket, and him a bottom of the heap disorganised type, when it was just a normal, formal and supposedly very expensive duffel coat.
Or Attlee against Churchill at the tail end of WW2. Churchill was going around in style, using an election train and limousine. Attlee was going around casually mixing with the troops who were starting to come back from Europe, and talking to the people, as one of the people. Thus Britain's great war winning leader was resoundingly kicked out, in a Labour landslide in July 45 -- between VE Day and VJ Day.