I had an interesting thought while at dinner tonight.This year is the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy/Nixon debate. Everyone says that Nixon lost because he looked so bad and Kennedy looked so good in front of the camera. I started thinking about other speeches/debates and then thought about the mock debate a few years ago between "The West Wing" characters. So I wondered what would happen if we handed the speeches to different people to read, what would happen. Would the public feel the same way if personality didn't matter? It would definitely help Obama since he's quoted as saying that it didn't matter if he claimed the earth were round, the republicans would vote against him.
And it's not just the Kennedy/Nixon debate to test, anything would work. I had to look up speeches for an english class back in 11th grade and it was funny how it didn't much matter who I was reading, the tone was exactly the same. Subject might change, but the same allusions were made. I think it would be an interesting test to do a bit like Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert are doing on the October 30th, only without letting the public in on it. Take a generic speech and some unknown actor and give it in town hall style. Maybe bill it as being partisan. Then judge people's reactions--cheers and jeers should be enough. The last lines could be that this was a "test of public sentiment" and give them information on where to find results if they care at all. I wonder what kinds of things all Americans would be able to agree on.
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