Senator Barack Obama is making a point of invoking the memory of John Kennedy in his campaign. Like JFK, he’s breaking precedent by making his acceptance speech at a big sports stadium, not at the convention hall. He’s also planning a dramatic speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin – site of one of Kennedy’s greatest oratorical triumphs. Obama could shatter barriers as the first African-American president—just as Kennedy broke tradition as the first Catholic president. Both men also wrote acclaimed bestsellers, and won admiration for their cool elegance and their fashionable wives. Obama’s handlers want the public to believe that with his Kennedyesque charisma, he’ll win in a landslide—but they should reconsider history. For all his gifts as a candidate, Jack Kennedy barely squeaked through to victory in 1960 against the charismatically challenged Richard Nixon: his 49.7% to 49.5% popular vote margin made the election one of the closest in history. If Nixon hadn’t suffered a knee injury requiring hospital treatment, and lost ten crucial days of campaigning in September, he might easily have won. For Barack Obama and his supporters, the lesson of 1960 ought to be clear: no matter how effectively the candidate channels JFK, that's no assurance of victory – especially against an opponent vastly more appealing than the dour Dick Nixon.