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In the President’s case, whether he is better with a good picture and a bad sound or with a good sound and a less-than-good picture (if one can or must make the choice), has not yet been made the matter of thoughtful observation.
The quality of television reception in Hawlin Hollow, where my house is situated, is not predictably good, especially in the early evening about the time the network news comes on.
When Walter Cronkite was the anchorman on CBS, I would as a rule watch him when the sound was bad and the picture good. Even without sound Walter was acceptable. The soundness of my judgment was confirmed when I read that Walter was the most popular of the evening newscasters among the deaf. When the picture was bad but the sound good, I chose John Chancellor, when he was still the anchorman on NBC. When both the sound and picture were bad, I went to ABC, as the news on that network was about as clear when sound and picture were confused as it was when both were clear.
I have not worked out satisfactory ground rules for choosing among the current evening anchormen on the nugor networks.
As for the President, I think he is best when the picture is good and the sound good - good to be heard but not listened to. Because of the events affecting Iran and Nicaragua, and in a secondary way a number of other countries, many persons listened to the State of the Union message hoping for some explanation of what was going on. Listening to a Reagan, however, can be distracting. One may be distracted trying to recall the source of his quotations: From former Democratic presidents? From old Gary Cooper movies? From the Constitution? From the Bible?
If one is into the study of the influence of speech writers, the distraction would be in trying to figure what parts of the speech came from Pat Buchanan, or from other speechwriters who, according to reports, compete for Presidential acceptance - or for that of the First Lady.
Beyond the State of the Union message, whatever may be the cause, communications between the President and the country seem to be getting a little blurred. The President may need a new title before his term ends, possibly “The Great Obfuscator,” whether he obfuscates on purpose, or simply because his public statements reflect the state of his own mind and the condition of his administration.
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