05-05-2008, 04:56 PM
[quote $tevie] ... It's sort of hard to understand how a man who so early on understood the power of television later had such a debacle in his debate with Kennedy. I have read that people who heard the debate on radio thought Nixon won, while TV viewers thought Kennedy won, which is an interesting piece of trivia to me. ...
He knew of the importance but didn't have all of his ducks in a row, which could be interpreted at NOT fully understanding the importance of it.
During that televised debate, Nixon had more problems than just Kennedy's good looks and smile. Nixon didn't enjoy the benefits of proper TV makeup that Kennedy did, didn't have something to counteract the heat from the lights, and so he looked like a sweaty, shifty mess in comparison. Right or wrong, viewers wouldn't have known about that disadvantage.
He knew of the importance but didn't have all of his ducks in a row, which could be interpreted at NOT fully understanding the importance of it.
During that televised debate, Nixon had more problems than just Kennedy's good looks and smile. Nixon didn't enjoy the benefits of proper TV makeup that Kennedy did, didn't have something to counteract the heat from the lights, and so he looked like a sweaty, shifty mess in comparison. Right or wrong, viewers wouldn't have known about that disadvantage.