In an exhaustive, if somewhat over-wrought, look at the career of Clinton advisor David Gergen, Michael Kelly's New York Times Magazine cover story last week documented how the 1968 Nixon presidential campaign revolutionized the way candidates were presented.

"Voter approval for a Presidential candidate, [Nixon speechwriter and German mentor Ray] Price argued, is not about reality but is a 'product of the particular chemistry between the voter and the image of the candidate...It's not the man we have to change, but rather the received impression [of him].'"

In other words--the important thing is not to make the show better but to change the set.

In a week when the Vice President of the United States announced he would appear on a cable talk show to debate a Texas billionaire about trade policy, it would be easy to see all this as proof that political culture has degenerated beyond recognition.

Yet those Cassandras who whine about the dignity of the presidency are also missing the point. Public exposure of any kind is good for democracy. If Larry King isn't exactly the most qualified moderator, at least a debate on the substance of NAFTA is taking place. It wasn't so long ago that national policy was made in utmost secrecy. A well lit studio may not seem like progress, but it beats the hell out of a smoke-filled room.

But what pollsters, commentators and handlers are learning is that you can't turn politics into a television show without expecting any negative repercussions. Politicians, like sitcoms, can be canceled.

Lori E. Smith '93-'94 is associate editorial chair of the Crimson. She finally has a TV.