1960 All Over Again...

Ok. After a self-imposed exile from the blog for a few days, I’m back in the saddle. Same as you, I’ve been watching the race, and it is becoming evident that we’re going to have a McCain/Obama matchup in November. I can’t imagine a scenario more tempting to the Democrat party. In March, the press will begin the comparisons to the 1960 race between Nixon and Kennedy- Nixon: the VP and "Old Establishment" candidate, and Kennedy: the “Fresh Faced Golden Boy” of politics. We all know how that ended up. Below is a transcript from Erika Tyner Allen of the Museum of Broadcast Communications recounting the aftermath of the debate between the two.

“Indeed, those who heard the first debate on the radio pronounced Nixon the winner. But the 70 million who watched television saw a candidate still sickly and obviously discomforted by Kennedy's smooth delivery and charisma. Those television viewers focused on what they saw, not what they heard. Studies of the audience indicated that, among television viewers, Kennedy was perceived the winner of the first debate by a very large margin.”

This was the first televised debate between Presidential candidates. It was one of a series of four, which have come to be known as “The Great Debates”.


Why do I bring this up? This is one of the first documented cases of style winning over substance. I can’t stand either candidate, but McCain wins in the resume department. In terms of sheer magnetism, Obama has the same je ne sais quois that drew people to JFK. I have to admit, he is a very charismatic guy. If I didn’t have strong convictions for conservative values, I would be drawn to him myself.

Most of the people I know who like Obama can’t tell me the specific reasons why. I have yet to hear a substantive defense of his stance on the issues. As the debates between McCain and Obama unfold, McCain will charge hard with policy driven rhetoric. Obama will parry with nebulous comments of change and will preach of Bush’s third term in the personage of John McCain. It’s not even going to be close- 1960 all over again…