Just a quick thought as I have to go to work early today. This one's been bouncing around my head for the last few days.
Way back when, in 1850, just to pick a year at random, there were no daily tracking polls, no policy polls and no way for congressmen and the president to be told which way the wind was blowing at that particular moment.
Do you suppose the lack of instantaneous feedback allowed them to be a bit more strategic in their thinking?