Back in 1988, as a naive college student, I attended a Jesse Jackson for President rally at a community college in the black enclave of Pittsburg, California. (I had been a Biden supporter, but he dropped out when he was caught lying.) After the rally, as the crowd walked out to the parking lot, I vividly remember listening to the black adults, who were not really paying attention to the white kid in their midst, talking very candidly among themselves. More than once I heard people saying Jackson had given a good speech, but he “wasn’t presidential.”
I think something similar may be going on this year.