Governor Huckabee’s comment linking Pakistan with immigration created a minor uproar in part because it shined a spotlight on his lack of foreign policy experience. But while his deficient foreign policy experience matters to me and it matters to the media and to many pundits, does it matter to most voters?

Some may recall George Bush’s near failure on Andy Hiller’s foreign policy quiz in 1999. (Among other things, he couldn’t remember the name of the general who had recently taken over Pakistan’s government, General Musharraf.) Yet he was able to defeat Al Gore. Admittedly, the 2000 election was obviously pre-9/11 and had much less emphasis on foreign policy than the 2008 election. But how much do voters really know or care about a candidate’s foreign policy experience?

Joe Biden is arguably one of the most experienced candidates when it comes to foreign policy, yet his support in the polls is negligible. Meanwhile Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are leading candidates, despite having no claim to foreign policy depth. It’s common knowledge in political circles that voters tend to vote on the basis of character, not policies. How many people can discuss the details of Hillary’s health plan knowledgeably? Probably not many. But nearly everyone has an opinion about her character.

The consequence of voting solely on character rather than policies or experience has been demonstrated during George W. Bush’s presidency. As one might have predicted after he failed Hiller’s quiz in 1999, his foreign policy has been a series of appalling blunders. While Huckabee’s foreign policy weakness is on display in the media, perhaps the glaring deficiency is in how we are judging the presidential candidates.