One of the benefits of the Open Salon community is its dynamic interactivity. I'm not talking widgets. I mean an even greater technology marvel -- the human mind. Our posts inform, describe, inspire, provoke, touch, evoke, irritate, fascinate, entertain, share, educate. We often provide springboards and stepping stones for each other.

It happened to me today. I was reading Priddy's post Going Natural Blonde. Here's her premise in a nutshell:

What would this country look like if it had to go au naturale in order to get elected?  I think a lot of those distinguished looking old men would suffer if they were outed as daily users of makeup and bronzers.

As I read the full post, I was agreeing, appreciating, thinking. And I remembered a story that's the perfect complement to her argument. A companion piece, if you will.

Then, before I even began to write my post, Barry made a comment referencing my topic: the Kennedy-Nixon Debates. How'd he get in my head like that?

I have an insider back story on the first debate. From a highly placed media source, a man not prone to hyperbole, much less outright lies. He was there. He helped orchestrate the debates.

Most historians agree if the first debate were judged on substance alone, Nixon was the clear winner. Those who listened on radio thought so too. But through the new medium of television, millions of viewers saw more than they heard. They loved Jack Kennedy. Richard Nixon gave them the creeps.

We now know that's a more accurate picture than anyone could have imagined. But at the time, it wasn't real. The debate was live, the candidates supposedly appeared on camera just as they did in person. A black and white picture, to be sure, but still, recognizable and clear.

Yet TV viewers were tricked by physical artifice. Arguably the first used in a political campaign.

Here's what the public saw:

A pale, fidgety Richard Nixon, eyes darting, face sweating profusely, often slumping, looking old. And clearly uncomfortable. Not a pretty picture.

At the other podium, youthful, tan, fit,  John F. Kennedy, facing the camera, speaking directly to the people.  Poised, calm and dry. The perfect picture of a confident Commander in Chief.

Here's why. The debate's Orchestrator was a Kennedy man. It was well known Nixon had a pronounced 5 o'clock shadow and tended to sweat a lot. Plus, he'd had recent knee surgery and wasn't feeling well. All of which made Nixon vulnerable to --irony of ironies-- dirty tricks.

So the Orchestrator instructed station engineers to turn off the air conditioning in the studio. Small space, big cameras, hot lights. The temperature soared. Nixon was cooked.

JFK stayed cool and collected. At each break, he got a fresh towel, a dusting of talcum powder and a new, duplicate shirt, tie and jacket.

Kennedy didn't need hair plugs or botox. He was young and strong. Just like Barack Obama. So what I want to know is this: when's Obama going to turn the hot lights on crabby old John McCain?