And if magically Nixon looked like JFK, all other things being equal, the Left would have adored Nixon. But he looked too much like the “old guard” for them, and they never did forget his role in ferreting out the Communists.
“...never did forget his role in ferreting out the Communists....”
There’s the reason everything else hangs off that!
Dems really wanted to tarnish Nixon because he kept his promise to withdraw Americans from South Vietnam - and this was a major cause for libs.