If Richard Nixon were to win the 1960 election, what he still have the political clout to be able to buck the conventional wisdom and open up ties with China? Kennedy did not have this option, for a variety of reasons. First was the
"Only Nixon can go to China" trope. Kennedy just did not have the anti-Communist shops that Nixon did to provide him cover. Second, Eisenhower explicitly told Kennedy that the only thing he would oppose Kennedy on was any detante with China. Nixon could probably get away with annoying Eisenhower more than Kennedy could. Or could he?