The power of 'presidential' appearances
Emily Thiessen
Issue date: 10/23/08 Section: Opinion
The light from hundreds of thousands of TV sets flickered throughout the country as Americans gathered around to witness a national political exhibition. The event was one of several major debates - two men verbally competing in their quest to become president of the United States.
One man glowed with youth, confidently smiling and straightforward in his speech. The other was pale, almost sickly looking, and even fumbling at times. The contrast of the images only further augmented the differences between the two candidates, already divided by the schism of their political beliefs. While those watching believed that the former man had won, those listening on the radio thought victory belonged to the latter.
The year was 1960, and the debate was between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
If it sounds familiar, perhaps it should.
While we here at Hillsdale are fortunate enough to focus on the issues presented by our presidential candidates in these debates, there is an issue that I think we ignore. Regardless of the sides we choose, all of us have learned to examine ideas closely; consequently, our votes will be at least minimally well-educated and thoughtful. However, many of our fellow citizens remain much more passive in their political stances. As unfortunate as this may be, then, it seems that image matters now more than ever.
It was with this in mind that I watched Wednesday night's debates with some concern. Setting aside the issues for the moment, what were the American people seeing? On one side of the screen, they saw McCain - somewhat past the prime of his life, verbally stumbling every once in a while, eyes darting nervously around as he spoke; on the other side, they saw Obama - a man not even fifty years old, looking straight into the camera with every sentence, speaking with clarity and directness. It was after seeing this split-screen comparison that I realized the harsh truth: as much attention as we are paying to the important issues at hand, a majority of the American public is paying the same amount to appearances alone.
This is not surprising when one considers the culture we live in today. If the 1960 election was a testament for the importance of image, just think how amplified it all is 48 years later. Perhaps just by listening to the debates, one might formulate different opinions and come to clear conclusions on the issues as they are. But to the random couch potato laying around channel-surfing with a bowl of Cheetos, Obama's youthful vitality might be the tipping point, should the couch potato decide to get off the sofa and vote.
It is a sad reflection of our devolving culture that this is even a relevant topic. Yet, as we have seen in past election years, image matters - even more so now than in 1960. We can only hope that voters learn to pay attention to the ideas presented by the candidates and stop playing "American Idol" with the United States government
One man glowed with youth, confidently smiling and straightforward in his speech. The other was pale, almost sickly looking, and even fumbling at times. The contrast of the images only further augmented the differences between the two candidates, already divided by the schism of their political beliefs. While those watching believed that the former man had won, those listening on the radio thought victory belonged to the latter.
The year was 1960, and the debate was between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
If it sounds familiar, perhaps it should.
While we here at Hillsdale are fortunate enough to focus on the issues presented by our presidential candidates in these debates, there is an issue that I think we ignore. Regardless of the sides we choose, all of us have learned to examine ideas closely; consequently, our votes will be at least minimally well-educated and thoughtful. However, many of our fellow citizens remain much more passive in their political stances. As unfortunate as this may be, then, it seems that image matters now more than ever.
It was with this in mind that I watched Wednesday night's debates with some concern. Setting aside the issues for the moment, what were the American people seeing? On one side of the screen, they saw McCain - somewhat past the prime of his life, verbally stumbling every once in a while, eyes darting nervously around as he spoke; on the other side, they saw Obama - a man not even fifty years old, looking straight into the camera with every sentence, speaking with clarity and directness. It was after seeing this split-screen comparison that I realized the harsh truth: as much attention as we are paying to the important issues at hand, a majority of the American public is paying the same amount to appearances alone.
This is not surprising when one considers the culture we live in today. If the 1960 election was a testament for the importance of image, just think how amplified it all is 48 years later. Perhaps just by listening to the debates, one might formulate different opinions and come to clear conclusions on the issues as they are. But to the random couch potato laying around channel-surfing with a bowl of Cheetos, Obama's youthful vitality might be the tipping point, should the couch potato decide to get off the sofa and vote.
It is a sad reflection of our devolving culture that this is even a relevant topic. Yet, as we have seen in past election years, image matters - even more so now than in 1960. We can only hope that voters learn to pay attention to the ideas presented by the candidates and stop playing "American Idol" with the United States government
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Matt
posted 10/24/08 @ 4:50 PM EST
But appearances do matter. Someone who is going to be engaging in diplomacy (one would hope) with other heads of state needs to conduct himself with confidence in order to be respected and taken seriously. (Continued…)
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