The United States presidential elections have been happening since the beginning of American history and democracy but has changed significantly over time. During the 1960’s, the traditional way the elections were held changed forever because of the influences of television. Americans didn’t have to wait for newspapers to print to get theie news anymore, they now had television to hear and see for themselves. From news broadcast to nationwide aired presidential debates, television has impacted the elections for the better in many ways.
One reason of many where television has impacted the presidential elections for the better is how it connected the people and the government together as a one nation. As quoted by Source A “the people have once
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The presidential debates affected who was elected because people were now able to get to know their candidates and see how the handle things. Source C argues that “television had dumbed down the issues by forcing the candidates to respond to questions instantaneously” and that Kennedy’s win in the debate was “largely a triumph of image over content”. On the contrary, this makes the presidential candidates be shown in a new light. They are asked questions and given a short period of time to come up with a response that reflects what they have to offer and who they are. They no longer have a speech ready and the people can see how they handle being under pressure and in the spotlight. The image they portray is very important since they’re representing the country and the people so of course their image is important to the people. In total, the televised presidential debates heavily affect who will be elected because the candidates are exposed to millions of Americans who can potentially vote for them and are shown in a new light.
In conclusion, television changed the way the elections were held and who was going to be elected since it had been introduced in the 1960’s. The influence television had opened a new way of doing things. It had brought together the government and its people as one nation. It had put the president in the spotlight and was able to spread information to people everywhere. All together, television has influenced presidential elections for the