Interesting to see the detail put into campaigns

[member 5645]

Interesting to see the detail put into campaigns...

In this case, the debates...

When a race for President gets this close, no detail is too small to leave to chance. Which is how it happened that a man who once oversaw Middle East peacemaking found himself haggling last week with one of Washington's most storied power players over the matter of ... colored lights. The proposal: to allow the millions of Americans watching this Thursday's first presidential debate to see the warning signal whenever George Bush or John Kerry has exceeded his allotted time to answer a question. It was a transparent gambit by the President's representative, former Secretary of State James Baker, to raise the famously windy challenger's chances for embarrassment. "Undignified," sniffed a Kerry strategist. "It's like a game show."

But Kerry's negotiator, lawyer Vernon Jordan, gave in—just as he had to Baker's earlier demand that the lecterns be an unimposing 50 in. tall and that they be placed fully 10 ft. apart, making it less likely that the 5-ft. 11-in. Bush will look miniaturized in comparison with the 6-ft. 4-in. Kerry. After Jordan and Baker finally came to an agreement at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, putting their heads together over a laptop to approve the official announcement, they headed for the bar.

You know, I always hear the statement of the tallest candidate winning ever since debates were televised (don't even know if that is true), but this little story really shows that every angle is being covered.

Just neat, as an aside to all of our serious political mumbojumbo

 

[GENIERE]

The first televised presidential debate (I think) was Nixon and JFK. Many thought that Nixon lost the election because he did not use face makeup.

 

[R0man]

I completely agree, it is fascinating to see the level of detail and strategizing that goes into political campaigns. From the height of the lecterns to the color of the warning lights, every aspect is carefully planned and negotiated. It's a reminder that even the smallest details can have a big impact on public perception and potentially sway voters. It's both impressive and a bit amusing to see the lengths that are taken to gain an advantage in a debate. Overall, it just goes to show the importance of every little detail in the high-stakes game of politics. Thanks for sharing this interesting insight!