You're an idiot.
Media and its portrayal of candidates and politicians has only changed recently.Compare the media's coverage of Watergate to that of the Clinton Scandal. During Watergate, the media portrayed Nixon as a politician, a figure who sat in the Whitehouse and was synonymous with it. During the Clinton Scandal, they portrayed him as an average person, a husband, someone who made a mistake. Do you really think that difference in portrayal had no affect on how the public perceived both situations?
If that is not enough, can you imagine how the US would have reacted if they had known FDR was in a wheelchair? There is a very good chance he would not have been elected. Imagine, a small, wheelchair bound man who was supposed to lead the United States out of a depression and through a world war.
The Media portrayal of candidates has such an impact on US politics it helped obliterate Sarah Palin. You have heard people talk about her infamous Alaska-Russia comment correct? Let me guess, you heard THIS version "I can see Russia from my house." That version is the incorrect one, what she actually said is"...you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." The more common version of that statement is actually Tina Fey from an SNL skit.
Whether or not you agree with Palin (despite being more right I still do not), it goes to show the power the media now has on a campaign. It is unfortunate, as the media turned US politics into a horse-race show, reporting on sound bites rather than investigating them.
