3. Know Your Audience
The 1968 presidential campaign would not only see the recently defeated Richard Nixon return from the political wilderness but he would bring something new to the campaigning table, the professional consultant or as we know them today, Spin Doctors. This new breed of political monster had specialized knowledge and used polling and focus groups to find out what voters wanted to hear from their candidates.
In a time were opposition to the Vietnam war was strong and society itself was drastically changing, Nixon’s team insured that he was the law and order candidate and one that would find an honorable way out of Vietnam. They also made sure to keep Nixon away from televised debates against the democratic candidate Vice President Hubert Humphrey. This was to avoid a repeat of the disastrous TV debate against Kennedy 8 years earlier.
