Posted by
Zorro on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 8:44:44 PM
Point: The received wisdom on the 1960 presidential election is that Kennedy's good looks combined with television to outdo a scruffy and sweaty Nixon. This seems to me to be a conclusion drawn from too little data: If young, fresh, good looking, debonair and sophisticated war hero-Kennedy can still only win the popular vote by a margin of approximately 100,000 votes against boring old fuddy-duddy Nixon, I'd say that being a fresh intersting face isn't as important as people think it is.
Counterpoint: On the other hand, Kennedy really didn't have a lot more going for him than all that charm. If a guy can win an election by just being young and debonair and heroic, and looking good on TV, than maybe it really is as important as people think it is.
Conclusion: It's not just being young and fresh and exciting that wins elections. Don't think Obama's invincible just because he's made a lot of people excited. Remember the eventual lack of dedication of the "Obama girl". His power may not be as vaporous as his rhetoric, but it's more vaporous than it looks.