History Lesson
May 12th, 2008John McCain has challenged Barack Obama to unmoderated debates over the summer and in the fall. Obama has all-but-said that he is willing to join him at these forums, and he thinks they are a “great idea.” I do, too, but I’m not particularly fond of the talk it’s spawning from pundits, especially with regard to the 1960 Presidential election where there is still far more conventional wisdom than actual wisdom. Witness this article.
[Talk of the positive effects the debates might have for McCain] discoun[t] what’s guaranteed to be a stark physical contrast: McCain’s shriveled firecracker standing next to Obama’s lanky coolness. Remember the 1960 presidential debates, when John F. Kennedy beat Richard Nixon less by out-arguing him than by out-dashing him. Nixon, still recovering from a leg injury, looked pale and gaunt; Kennedy was tan after campaigning in Southern California. Nixon, unfamiliar with the new medium, refused makeup and wore a suit that blended into the background. Kennedy, meanwhile, looked fit and telegenic. We’ve learned a few things since then about broadcast debates, but from an aesthetic perspective, “appearing frequently at Obama’s side” is just about the worst thing McCain can do.
What, exactly, is this supposed to mean? The debates in 1960 had little, if any, effect on the Presidential race. Poll numbers before the first debate and after gave about the same numbers for each candidate, and the other debates went off without a hitch as Nixon had had time to get healthy after a knee injury and flu had thrown him off his footing. That Kennedy defeated Nixon that year had precious little to do with the debates and in fact had a lot more to do with political machines and his aiding Martin Luther King after he was arrested. Besides, the two candidates in 1960 were around the same age, so this situation is not comparable to that one, even if we ignored the fact that the insinuation about the debates is deeply flawed to begin with.
What’s this nonsense about Nixon being “unfamiliar” with the medium of television, anyway? Checkers says hello! That Nixon was unprepared for the first debate in aesthetic terms has more to do with his grueling campaign schedule causing an oversight than anything else. He certainly wasn’t lacking familiarity with the television.
If there’s one thing I hate in politics, it’s a misinterpretation or misrepresentation of history, whether it’s the bogus claim that Harry Truman would be a Republican today (or worse, that George W. Bush is his heir) or this nonsense about the 1960 Presidential debates meaning anything to anyone at the time that they occurred. Now, I don’t know what effect these debates will have on the Presidential campaign, but I expect that they will have more of one than the 1960 rounds did. Assuming McCain can maintain his composure and remind the average American of a paternal figure, he should be fine, and if Barack Obama can hit the Senator from Arizona hard on the War in Iraq or the economy — if he can cause him to lose his temper — then Obama will be fine, too.