all of this optics crap is so gay. you wanna know what george washington thought about optics? when there was a rebellion a brewin' back in his time, he personally rode out at the head of the army to shut it the fuck down. the NPCs of his day got in line quick smart.
unfortunately for us, we have strategists who watch tv and plot against tv hosts and their tv audiences. everyone is obssessed with the tv, from the voters to the hosts to the "finest minds".
it's some gay fucking pansy shit and the Founders would have slapped more than a few people across the face by now. i would go so far as to say that this obsession with tv at the highest levels is setting a very poor example for future generations of historians. they're going to look back at this time and mock the egos that were so obsessed with theatre that policy itself became indistinguishable from it.