I remember the Goldwater campaign and the non-stop ads against him. My parents were upset about him losing but nobody knew how to counter the negative publicity with the exploding bomb image. The news media spoke. They set the narrative.
“I was told if I voted for Goldwater that we’d have riots in the streets and get into a long unwinnable war. Well I voted for him, and darned if they weren’t right.”
[nobody knew how to counter the negative publicity]
Dad was Democrat Mom was Republican. Every four years Mom would tape a picture of the Republican candidate for POTUS on the wall facing the toilet.
Dad finally became a registered Republican.