Why do people like Adama senior on the Galactica?

[lesbiassparrow]

Actually this is a serious question rising from the comment that Moore gave that the Galactica was not really staffed with the brightest and best so I started wondering why would the crew be so insanely fond of him on the show. I don't mean just fond of him but devoted to him personally.



Let me note before I list this that I actually like the character of Adama. But I'm not sure why, really.

Pro:
1. He was a war hero and seems to have gotten screwed over by the government, so admiration and sympathy points there
2. There's a lot of backstory that we're not seeing about how well he ran the ship and dealt with the government
3. Who doesn't like Olmos?
4. He never kicks puppies He has great personal charisma
5. Olmos! Olmos! Olmos!
6. He says he knows the way to Earth
7. Military command structure encourages devotion to your leader

Anti:
1. He picked an idiotic and obviously drunken second in command and doesn't seem know when to fire him
2. It's not like before the show the crew outside of Tigh had served with him in a war situation so there's no pre-show bonding in the face of fire to connect them all in some dramatic manner
3. He seems to play favourites (I'm thinking of the 'lets use all of our resources for Starbuck!' but perhaps that wouldn't be the crew perception at all)
4. He hasn't really done anything great military wise yet that I can recall. I mean, he would have charged into battle all heroically and died fighting the Cylons but the President had the much better idea of running away
5. The crew seems pretty young; they can't have been with him long enough to have some deep connection
6. Have I mentioned the selection of Tigh?

Comments

[jenavira.livejournal.com]

I really do think it's all about the charisma. He always seems like he's making the right decision, even when it's sometimes the wrong one (or the risky one). He very rarely loses his temper, at least in public. He's insanely confident. Confidence carries you a long way.

...I want an Adama icon.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

The confidence and charisma are appealing, though I think I'll probably be more wary of them if he leaves Tign in situ.

A nice Adama icon looking all in command would be very nice. I can't do icons sadly as Photoshop makes me very grumpy.