For September 17, 2008 class

While reading “The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election,” I came across a YouTube video of Truman speaking about the United States and how it would deal with communism and international threats, in general:

I started to think about the myriad of YouTube videos and online advertisements that campaigns now issue, many of which are never seen on television sets in homes but are instead intended to be seen by Web-savvy, newshounds like ourselves.  These ads stir the pot, generate media attention and provide fodder for the blogosphere.  We Washingtonians are particularly proud of knowing the latest campaign news –whether it be from the front page of The Washington Post or a clip from Jon Stewart’s latest video montage.

It was interesting to read about each of the four candidates’ campaign tours around the country in “The Last Campaign.” Candidates seemed willing to take chances and to try a new style or method of speech after stepping away from the microscope of Washington politics. Truman’s campaign trip to California, for example, allowed him to test a more casual, humorous method of speaking, which Zachary Karabell likened to a barbershop conversation.  And people reacted well enough to this new style that Truman used it on radio shows with success. Had this new act been a flop, Truman would’ve easily reverted back to previous styles, and few people other than those at the 1948 event would know or care about his slip.

Likewise, “The Boys On The Bus” told of Curtis Wikie, a reporter who covered a Humphrey student rally at which students heckled Humphrey and called him ‘America’s Number 2 War Criminal,’ forcing him off the stage in a state close to tears.  Though this event took place almost 25 years after Truman’s  test-run speeches that didn’t have media repercussions, no cameramen were present and only one other reporter filed a story like Wikie’s. The reporter’s managing editor even teased him about whether the moment actually happened.

The times have certainly changed since then — or even since 2004. In our current election, it’s hard to imagine Senators Obama or McCain doing a trial run of an entirely new speaking style in front of potential voters. If the change failed, someone in the media would ultimately blog or write an entire story about the event, and someone else would ultimately post a video of the moment online.  Of course, candidates can and do use the Web as a tool, as is demonstrated by the ads that run mostly online.

But it makes me wonder what an unchecked candidate would do or say if he or she could step out on a limb without the world knowing about it seconds later.

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