The Un-Magic of TV

Throughout the campaign, the political uses of television advertising and packaging of candidates were heralded by proponents as the inescapable wave of the future and by doomsayers as the ominous forerunner of 1984. The voters issued different ratings. On balance, the Almighty Tube gave and it took away: of 26 clients in statewide races managed by media experts, 13 won and an equal number lost. Television was undeniably effective in primary campaigns where virtually unknown opponents vied for voter recognition.

But often opposing batteries of TV spots merely cancel each other--or backfire. In the Utah senatorial contest, Republican Representative Laurence Burton posed sitting on a horse, his shirt open. The candidate looked so uncomfortable that Utah's cowboys and city folk laughed him off the screen and out of the race.

In Florida, Republican William Cramer poured nearly $100,000 into commercials. His opponent, State Senator Lawton Chiles, set out on a 1,000-mile hike through Florida, which captured everyone's imagination and appeared regularly on the evening news. Chiles walked into the Senate seat virtually free of charge. Plainly, no one should overestimate the political magic of TV.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.