Merv & Dick, Together Forever

OOOOOH!merv-griffins-word-for-word-game.jpg

Thanks to the impish pranksters at boingboing for steering us to Adie Russell, who for some reason lip-sinks to old tapes of Richard Nixon among others.

It can only be described as disturbing. nixon-griffen.jpg

Nixon appeared on the Merv Griffin Show [Roger Ailes, Producer] as part of his New Nixon build up to 1968. Griffin asked the candidate about being a little shopworn, and Nixon responds with two timeless strategies: praise for the thoughtfulness of the question followed by changing the subject.

“GRIFFIN: But you must be aware of an undercurrent with politicians, with people in our business, even comedians who refer to Richard Nixon as a loser. You have that stigma because of losing two big contests. How do you plan to combat that? You must be aware that that’s been said. It’s been written about in newspapers.

RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Sure. I think it’s a legitimate question that should be raised by those who are trying to find the strongest possible candidate and the way you combat it is to win something.”

It’s not in that little transcript snippet I’ve found on-line, but Nixon’s soon off into audience testing early drafts of his ’68 acceptance speech complaint that “when the President of the United States cannot travel abroad or to any major city at home without fear of a hostile demonstration – then it’s time for new leadership for the United States of America.”

Comments are closed.