evidence that shows that many Americans were not convinced as to which candidate held a issue position closer to their own view. McGovern was clearly in favor of immediate withdraw from Vietnam. Im fed up with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in, McGovern said in his print advertising. The war in Indochina is the greatest military, political, economic, and moral blunder in our nations history However, one poll indicates that there were a large number of Americans who believed that Nixon was closer to their position of favoring withdraw from Vietnam. 22 percent of Americans surveyed saw Nixon as closer to their own position of favoring withdraw. Compared to 62 percent of those surveyed saw McGovern as closer to their own position of favoring withdraw. On the other end of the spectrum there seems to be more clarity amongst Americans on who favored a military victory in Vietnam. 90 percent of those surveyed who favored a military victory saw Nixon as having a similar position, while only 6 percent who favored military victory saw McGovern as having a similar position. Benjamin Page claims that although McGovern was in disagreement with the public on a few dramatic issues, but looking at all the 1971-72 policy questions asked by Gallup, McGovern agreed with a plurality of the public 70 percent of the time. Although McGovern may have held the same issue positions as much of the American electorate, it may be argued that many Americans were not sure what position McGovern held on all the issues. Kathleen Hall Jamieson argues that there is a reason for the publics uninformed perception of McGoverns issue positions is due in part by poor advertising strategy. Jamieson faults McGovern for relying on half hour televised specials to layout his specific proposals. She claims that unlike TV spots that entice the unsuspecting viewer, longer programming tends to attract the true believers. Jamieson also makes the argument...
