I agree that merit should be first and foremost. It's just difficult to verify merit on an entity when that entity is an unknown. The concept is met with inherent skepticism. That said, I had not heard of Barack Obama until briefly before he ran, and I voted for him twice.
I think the issue is, people today vote emotionally, not necessary logically. That's why at this current moment I would be more likely to vote for Jon Stewart. But if I were to learn more about Naomi Murakawa (and I will educate myself on them shortly, I promise) and I liked what I saw, then I would be more likely to vote for them than I am in this moment.
Just wanted to say, I agree 100%. And to support your first point, I had not heard of Barack Obama until right before he ran, and I voted for him twice. There is hope (see what I did there?).