unfortunately, the dolling out of awards hasn't been done based strictly on acting merit in a long, long time. it's become very political (who has more power, who's better known/more liked, who's campaigned the most/the best, who's the most liked by the general public, who's the safe bet, etc etc). as far as leo is concerned, while he certainly never lacks in acting skill and ability, he falls short in "political play", aka he doesn't campaign as much/in the same way that his peers do. he doesn't do the late night circuits, his print interviews are few and far between and only with the most prestigious publications, and he tends to keep a very low profile in general. he does the press junkets and the normal round of interviews for the big entertainment networks, but i'm sure all of that is stuff he is contractually obligated to do. he lets his work speak for itself. i see no problems with that because his work is powerful enough for that, but sadly, that's not how the vast majority of voters feel. that's why i don't give too much credence to the awards anymore. it's nice to see deserving actors/directors/screenwriters/etc receive award recognition, but it's not /the most important/ thing. creating a body of work that will stand the test of time and critique is what matters. i think, i truly do, that leo has that mentality and that's why he doesn't campaign hard for awards. it's just not something on his agenda.