A charismatic leader can give the uninformed a reason to hate him, but it won't change their feelings.
An example: a gay friend of mine dislikes Bush because he proposed a law against gay marriage (at least that is his stated reason). He has very strong positive feelings for (Bill) Clinton, in spite of the fact that Clinton actually passed a law against gay marriage (Defense of Marriage Act). His feelings persisted even after I pointed this out to him.
Maybe I just have stupid friends (I don't think this is the case), but my general impression is that most people don't base their opinion of a politician on policy. Rather, they take their opinion on the policy from the party or politician they like.
An example: a gay friend of mine dislikes Bush because he proposed a law against gay marriage (at least that is his stated reason). He has very strong positive feelings for (Bill) Clinton, in spite of the fact that Clinton actually passed a law against gay marriage (Defense of Marriage Act). His feelings persisted even after I pointed this out to him.
Maybe I just have stupid friends (I don't think this is the case), but my general impression is that most people don't base their opinion of a politician on policy. Rather, they take their opinion on the policy from the party or politician they like.