Lyndon Johnson is often said to have remarked, upon seeing himself skewered by Walter Cronkite, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Mr. Average Citizen." Nowadays there is no Cronkite-like figure. And that story is likely apocryphal anyway. There may not have been a Cronkite-like figure when Cronkite was anchor either. https://mwi.westpoint.edu/war-public-opinion-myth-cronkite-moment/ Still, I have to say -- something happened that the story does represent. Lyndon Johnson won an epochal victory in 1964 -- in 1966, despite the usual opposition party midterm gains, Johnson and the Democrats held on to majorities in both Houses of Congress. Yet in early 1968 he had to step aside and he spent the rest of the year (futilely) trying to make his VP his successor. The shift had everything to do with the Vietnam War which of course had to be reported upon at home. So the story can be taken for its grain of truth. There was a "Cronkite moment" of some sort sometime...
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For those of us of a certain age, the image of Walter (avuncularity) Cronkite, sitting behind his desk, telling us about the world "the way it is," remains an enduring image of television news. One thinks of that teletype-machine sound behind him. (Was that fake, or was that the working office sound?) Here are three Cronkite quotes worth recalling. I grew my mustache when I was nineteen in order to look older. I never shaved it off even though it overran its usefulness many, many years ago. Once you get started in television, people associate you with your physical appearance — and that includes the mustache. So I can’t shave it off now. If I did, I’d have to answer too much mail. People who understand music hear sounds that no one else makes when Frank Sinatra sings. There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free, or you are not free.
President Lyndon Johnson is thought to have said, after hearing of a critical Walter Cronkite commentary about the Vietnam War, words to this effect: "If I have lost Walter Cronkite, I have lost middle America." The precise wording differs depending on from whom you heard the story. And although Cronkite held great importance in his day, more so than any one individual CAN possess in the multipolar media world of today, the story is likely apocryphal. Still, I think as a rapt reader of Caro's books, that Johnson may have had the self-awareness necessary to have said something like that. Trump would never say, "If I have lost Ann Coulter, I have lost my hypernationalist base." Maybe he should, though. https://www.thewrap.com/ann-coulter-turns-on-disloyal-actual-retard-trump-in-twitter-rant/ I have no dog in that fight. May Coulter and Trump tear each other to pieces until neither is heard from any more. Just get me some popcorn.