While politicians often appear well put together, they are times when even the best candidates make huge mistakes on live television that can cost them their campaign. The most infamous of these blunders is Nixon's 1960 debate. Which, as we saw in the documentary, was simply atrocious. He was unprepared and the decision to decline makeup possibly could have costed him the presidency. But many other debates have seen candidates come unprepared and choke at the worst possible moment. In 2011, Texas governor Rick Perry was asked which of the three branches of government he planned to cut down on spending the most, he responded with, "I can't, the third one. I can't. Sorry. Oops." This did not exactly rally the American people around Perry and his campaign died shortly after this blunder. On the nationally televised debate between Jimmy Carter and Reagan, Carter said, "I had a discussion with my daughter Amy the other day before I came here to ask her what the most important issue was. She said she thought the control of nuclear weaponry." While I'm sure Carter's daughter is a very sweet girl, the idea of the leader of the free world asking his 13 year daughter for advice on policy did not exactly inspire confidence in the American people. In 1976, Gerald Ford was asked what he would do about Eastern Europe being dominated by the Soviet Union. Ford then said he didn't believe that the USSR controlled Eastern Europe. This was just outright false and single handily ruined his chance at the presidency. While it is fun to poke fun at candidates for messing up on a national stage. Is it fair for a candidates campaign to be completely shut down due to one blunder? Yes, stating complete falsehoods like Ford is not presidential behavior. But in 1992 George Bush looked at his watch during a debate and was crucified for it. In my opinion, we should pick our president based on they would behave in office and not examine every single detail of their actions in something like a debate.
Bibliography:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt8Xgjgw8Zo
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/the-10-worst-moments-in-presidential-debates/451956/
https://www.thewrap.com/13-most-cringe-worthy-gaffes-from-presidential-debates/
This is an interesting post. Something I wonder is if these mistakes would have the same effects today. Trump has made many, many verbal and written mistakes that likely would have killed a candidacy in a different time. The fact Trump has survived despite this shows times have changed, voters have different values now. Being loud is more important than being right, being memorable is better than being correct. It's interesting to consider what it would take to derail Trump's run (if anything) in modern times.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/trump-biggest-fatal-gaffes-mistakes-offensive-214289