jfk historians and/or those who remember:

[unblock]

anyone know how obama's charisma and favorability/unfavorability compare to jfk PRIOR TO THE ELECTION?

today, much of the myth and legend about jfk come from speeches and events during his presidency (e.g., cuban missile crisis, moon mission speech, the assassination). it's hard to get a handle on what his image must have been like before he became president.

just how comparable are obama's image and approval ratings to jfk's from the same point in 1960?

[LunaSea]

1. My favorite JFK speech

Perhaps his nomination speech offers some insight-
http://www.jfktimeline.com/jfkspeeches/demnomination_071360/speech.html

[mth44sc]

2. JFK

Had much stronger opposition than McSame has proven to be.

"The Democrats nominated Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy (JFK). He was only the second Roman Catholic to become a major-party presidential candidate (the previous one was Democrat Al Smith in 1928). During the campaign, Kennedy charged that under Eisenhower and the Republicans, America was falling behind the Soviet Union in the Cold War, both militarily and economically, and that as President he would "get America moving again." Nixon responded that, if elected, he would continue the "peace and prosperity" Eisenhower had brought the nation, and that with the nation engaged in the Cold War, Kennedy was too young and inexperienced to be trusted with the Presidency. The electoral vote was the closest in any presidential election dating to 1916, and Kennedy's margin of victory in the popular vote is among the closest ever in American history"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_1960

[Doctor_J]

3. In 1960 you didn't have the intense anti-democratic hatred that today's repukes have

eisenhower was a great man and true patriot, where the every republican in the government right now is subhuman filth, bent on destroying everyone who disagrees with him/her and destroying the country if they don't get their way. Joe McCarthy was odious and destructive but was nowhere near as toxic as today's repukes. The MSM were fair, honest, and brave in comparison to the Goebbels-esque whores of today. You didn't have the open treason, lies, death threats, etc. on the airwaves that Hate Radio proffers these days.

the upshot is that JFK had a lot less to overcome than does Obama, so it's pretty hard to compare.