Comment A scary day... (Score 1) 438
For lack of a better reference, I will mention wikipedia:
"The first general election presidential debate was held on September 26, 1960, between U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy, the Democratic nominee, and Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee. Televised on all networks, Kennedy is generally considered to have won the debate. Nixon appeared worse than Kennedy on television, with poor makeup, a haggard appearance (due to a knee injury and hospitalization earlier in the month), and a gray suit which blended into the backdrop of the set). According to many accounts radio listeners thought that Nixon had won the debate, while television viewers favored Kennedy. The televised debates were thought to be the difference in what was an extremely close election."
Soon the parties recognized the importance of TV experience, and guess what? This finally lead to the nomination of a professional actor to run for president... Again from wikipedia:
"Debates were a major factor again in 1980. Going into the debate, Ronald Reagan had a narrow lead over Jimmy Carter in a race considered "too close to call." Reagan, with years of experience in front of a camera as an actor, came across much better than Carter and was judged by voters to have won the debate by a wide margin. This translated into Reagan turning a close election into a landslide victory."
Now let's get back to present day. From TFA:
"Someday soon, computers may be able read us better than any psychologist. I imagine that will be a pretty scary day for politicians."
If using software to "spin" (whatever that means) in candidates becomes popular enough, a candidate that can keep always a "straigh face" may become the single most important characteristic for a candidate to win. Now guess what? Following the same logic, this will eventually lead to a party nominating a sociopath... which will most likely win.
I imagine that will be a pretty scary day for US.
