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Television in politics
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Television has played a decisive role in politics in the past 50 years. Since the 1950's television and American presidential politics have gone hand in hand. The power of television and its persuasive influence on the American political arena can be seen early in the 1950's, yet its most historically profound era can be said to have started in the 1960's. In 1960 John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Richard Milhouse Nixon met in the television arena for 4 political debates. Those events are considered a milestone in television political history due to the vast audiences who tuned in. According to Grolier.com, “More than 70 million Americans saw the first debate, and audiences greater than 50 million people witnessed the other three. Probably the greatest consequence of the debates was to assure voters that the relatively young and inexperienced Senator Kennedy was capable of being president” (Grolier, 2000). The persuasive power of television was from that time on seen as an indispensable tool in running a campaign and in keeping office. The effect of television on the voter populace is so great that candidates running for president rely heavily on media specialists to run campaigns in the form of image marketing and mass saturation of political advertisements. The reliance on the television has increased the costs of running a presidential campaign. In 1952 the cost of running a presidential campaign was approximately 12 million US dollars. In the 2000 federal election an estimated 200 million was spent by one party. The expense of television campaigning requires political parties to raise more money to have a fair chance at equal representation in the electoral arena. The down side is that democracy is not being served. Instead, private capital is being served by political promises for political contributions to pay for such increased costs as television air time. Parties or candidates without private interest monetary support do not get equal representation in a national form. But this was not always so. In the early years of television ex-president Dwight D. Eisenhower used television for the first time to campaign. The first American presidential campaign to take advantage of the television was that of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952. The use of short animations and sound bites was an amazing success and allowed Ike, as he was called, to walk away with the election. A curious presidential character whose career was definitely affected by the media is Richard Nixon. First, during the 1952 Eisenhower election, Nixon ran as a candidate for Vice President, and was under media scrutiny for a financial scandal involving an alleged secret political fund. In a public televised address he bared his entire life and financial record to the nation and he even mentioned receiving a black and white dog named Checkers from a little girl in a small town in the Midwest. Nixon sarcastically suggested to the nation that he would give up the dog if the federal auditors wished it. Then he identified with the public by using his children and stating, “And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it. It isn't easy to come before a nation-wide audience and air your life as I've done” (Watergateinfo, 2003). He made the federal investigators and the political opposition seem like they were picking on the underdog and that he was just a simple and honest family man just trying to do what was right. He concluded his address with, “But just let me say this last word. Regardless of what happens I'm going to continue this fight. I'm going to campaign up and down America until we drive the crooks and the Communists and those that defend them out of Washington. And remember, folks, Eisenhower is a great man. Believe me. He's a great man. And a vote for Eisenhower is a vote for what's good for America” (Watergateinfo, 2003). The Checkers the dog speech is considered to set the standard for audience persuasion in politics. Eight years later Nixon ran for President of the United States against John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The Kennedy Nixon debates of the 1960's were some of the very first televised national political debates. The charismatic, youthful Kennedy was successful in beating Nixon not so much in his argument but with his appearance and charm.
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