"The stakes are too high for you to stay home." 1964

I was taking another look back at some old campaign ads in hope of getting over some primary blues. I have already covered the televised ads up to 1960. This 1964 ad is, of course, the most famous of all presidential ads.

Daisy:



"These are the stakes! To make a world in which all of God's children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die. Vote for President Johnson on November 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home."

This election was one of the biggest defeats in history, but it also led to the Dems losing "The Solid South". They still have not been able to recover in these areas areas and will not do it 2008 either, but that is not the topic here.

I want to mention that a parallel arises when you look at the GOP primary map in 1964. You see similarities to HRC's primary success.



Like HRC, Goldwater won mainly big states. The GOP was also in a heated primary battle much like the Dems are now. They went with Goldwater and won only five states. That would not happen with HRC running, but their nomination battles are stirringly similar.

Past Campaigns: 1960

The 1960 election was a significant one for many reasons, but for my purposes for this post it was significant because it featured the first televised debates.

Here's what I found from JFK...



I like this one. I like how they politely slammed the GOP.



And here is Nixon. I could only find one.



I wanted to post the debate, but I could not find a clean version of it. Most people say that Kenneddy won the debate not only because of his answers, but because of his appearnace in comparison to the socially akward and sweaty Nixon.

That electorate went like this...

I had no idea that the vote was that close!

Past Campaigns: 1952

I thought that this would be a fun break from the presently heated campaign underway and I would take you back as far as I can find. I'm not going to get into much of the history surrounding the clips or elections outside of providing a link for you.

We'll start with the first one I could find ads for, the 1952 election. I know that only two or three of you were alive at this point, but I think it's great.

This is for Ike.



And this is for his Democratic rival, Adlai Stevenson.



Did you like the name play they did on Stevenson, "Man-you-can-believe-in, son" and "Civilians' son". I loved it! I am a staunch Democrat, but I'm not sure who I would have voted for based solely on the ads. I think Ike had a catchier jingle, but Stevenson really tried to make his name rhyme. Classic!

Here's out that played out. Solid South!

Still, I would have gone for Stevenson. Would you?