Charisma. The candidates announcing they will run brings to mind the matter of charisma. And the mystery of why some people have it. And some do not.

The word falls short. It does not convey the extent of what I mean here. A few examples may help.

Years ago I had to arrange several events for Jesse Owens. (For younger readers, Owens was perhaps the greatest athlete of the 20th century.) Owens charisma, the power of his presence, was greater than most of us could imagine. When he entered a room of 600 people, we all sensed it. We who had been downing wine and cheese and nattering with each other. We knew, without seeing him, that someone had just sucked the oxygen from the room.

His remarks were vacuous. He said nothing memorable. He said nothing that made much sense, when you read it, parsed it. Yet half the audience seemed ready to swoon. Such was the power he radiated.

Many people say the same of Bill Clinton. That when he enters a gathering people feel the electricity in the air.  JFK certainly had that effect in the street rally I was at in Chicago. Most people felt he arrived on a stream of air.