Presidential Debate Blunders - Epic Moments Can Change History
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Tuesday night's presidential debate between former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump could be epic.
Debate performances in the past have often decided elections in the past.
SLIDES: SEE EPIC DEBATE BLUNDERS BELOW
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"I think if they both perform at expectation, it doesn’t matter that much — and expectations are low," said Jennifer Lawless, Chair of the Political Science Department at the University of Virginia and regular contributor on GoLocal LIVE.
"I think that basically, Donald Trump has to demonstrate that he has the credibility to create a sort of complete economic turnaround in a way that’s more important than any other issue, and Joe Biden needs to hammer home the coronavirus in a way that he’s never hammered it home before, and he’s done quite a bit of hammering," adds Lawless.
But, throughout the history of presidential moments, there have been moments that have recast the election -- some have been fatal for candidates, as in the case of 1976 and the performance of then-President Gerald Ford (see video below).
George W. Exceeded Expectations, Obama's Anniversary
"In 2000, it wasn’t just that George Bush exceeded expectations, it was that Al Gore’s personality in that debate was so off-putting. It wasn’t just the lockbox, it was the sighing and the moaning and the grunting and making faces that made George Bush come across as this likable guy," said Lawless. "That goes to the famous question who would you rather have a beer with. It didn’t matter what party you were, you definitely did not want to go out for a beer with Al Gore."
In 2012, Obama raised questions with a subpar performance in the first debate versus GOP candidate Mitt Romney.
"It’s a combination [of] do you exceed expectations, or does your opponent underperform? Any combination of those two factors can ultimately lead to success," said Lawless. "In 2012, during that first debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, Obama literally said in his opening his statement it was his anniversary and he’d rather be at dinner with Michelle. That did not go well for him, right? And then he rallied in the second and third debate and it was the Barack Obama everybody knew. But that had at least helped Romney generate some degree of enthusiasm, and it made people stay tuned to see what would happen in that second debate."
"It’s hard to imagine [Trump or Biden] doing anything at this point that’s going to change the way that voters feel. If you look back at the poll results over the last several months, they’ve generally been stable," Lawless added. "The conventions haven’t really mattered, major blips haven't really mattered. Polling post-Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death indicates there’s no real change either. Now for Joe Biden, this is good news, since not since 1996 has a Presidential candidate polled this far ahead of his opponent — and in 1996 [Bill] Clinton won handily. The next time the margin was as big as it is was Reagan in ’84."
SEE VIDEOS BELOW OF EPIC BLUNDERS
Related Slideshow: Presidential Debate Blunders in History - September 2020
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