STOP FEELING OUR PAIN: Pundits think empathy is crucial for a presidential candidate, but voters actually don’t care that much — and for good reason. Empathy is a highly overrated virtue in a leader (or anyone else) because it’s biased, parochial and innumerate. My New York Times column on the empathy debate in psychology ends with Adam Smith’s advice: Be guided by reason, not by “fellow-feeling.”