ABSTRACT
Presidential candidates undergo rites of purification for the civil religion of which they will become high priest. Each must face ritual performances: press conferences, hand-shaking tours, speeches, carnival games, and solemn rites of government. But the key moments in a campaign are frequently those that shatter rituals. People probe their presidential candidates for "character", for some flash from the depths of a man that reveals his secret identity. In 1972, Richard Nixon virtually did not campaign, leaving the empty field to the hapless George McGovern. Most candidates for the presidency, even Nixon, must establish themselves in the public imagination. Virtually all a candidate's actions are public actions. The long political campaign of 1972 provided several memorable moments when ritual acts revealed the character of a candidate, or when the normal rituals were shattered. Not to calculate the power of such symbols is to be unrealistic.
