Watching the Benghazi Committee hearing yesterday when Hillary Clinton was questioned about the attack on the U.S. consulate, reminded me of the first ever televised presidential debate. (There are some benefits to being old.) The debate was between Nixon and Kennedy. Kennedy was widely thought to have won the debate, not so much for what he said as for his demeanor.
Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian philosopher, is famous for having said "the medium is the message." That rang true in the Committee hearing while Hillary remained cool, i.e., non-anxious, while much of the committee was palpably anxious. Viewers are hypersensitive to anxiety. Have you ever been at a public event where the presenter gets flustered and noticed your own rise in anxiety?
In McLuhan language Nixon, and the committee, were hot while Kennedy, and Clinton, were cool. Because I like the categories from Family Systems thought I call them anxious and non-anxious respectively. So, I agree with McLuhan, that, in many respects at least, the medium is the message.
Leaders who are anxious always run the risk of attack. This is because followers don't like to be anxious but become so when the leader is anxious. If the opportunity arises they often respond by attacking the leader.
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