UK’s First Televised Prime Ministerial Debates: Game Changers

How have Britons survived all these years without televised candidate debates? For half a century here in America, TV debates have supplied memorable lines and defining moments; it’s hard to imagine an election year without them.

Oh, I know that most of the spontaneity and substance was long ago wrung out of them; we should have known this would happen from the beginning. What do you know about the very first TV debate, between Kennedy and Nixon? I can’t quote a single line from either candidate, but I know that JFK agreed to wear makeup and Nixon didn’t. That should have been an early sign that down through the years, style would matter more than substance.

More…