How do you "correct" a candidate's lack of humor and warmth? What is a "balanced" television panel? Exactly what does the temperature in a television studio have to do wit a presidential election? When does a candidate need "more memorable phrases"? These are just a few of the considerations that went into Richard M. Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign- at the heart of which was the adroit manipulation and use of television. As fare back as the first debate with John F. Kennedy in 1960, Nixon had learned bitterly - the importance of television. And as early as 1966, he had set out to master this newest of media. One of his first moves in putting together a team for the 1968 campaign was the appointment of seasoned advertising and TV professionals. Little wonder that Hubert H. Humphrey was to say, "I'm fighting packaged politics. IT's an abomination for a man to place himself completely in the hands of the technicians, the ghost writers, the experts, the pollsters and come out only as an attractive package." Abomination or practical reality, these new "packaged"politics were- as Humphrey grants- to prove the decisive factor in the 1968 election. Wondering if a presidential candidate could be advertised and sold like a car or a can of peas, Joe McGinniss informally joined the Nixon forces at the very early stages of the Campaign. Around the clock, day-today, he lived with the technicians, ghost writers, experts, and pollsters. Whether it was an advertising concept meeting, a television taping, a panel selection, an "ethnic specialists'" discussion, whether at a hysterical moment of anticipated triumph, or a quiet moment of misgiving and self doubt, Joe Mcginniss was there, listening, asking- eliciting some of the most candid, truly human disclosures and insights ever made about our electoral process.