November 11, 2011

The Forgotten Disasters of Past Debates

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Are you tired of turning on CNN and seeing taped highlights of the greatest debate gaffes of all time? You know, Dukakis on rape, Stockdale blanking out, Ford on Poland, etc. (Though Reagan’s meandering trip down Highway 1 in the finale of the second 1984 debate never seems to make the cut. Too cruel, I guess. I can’t even find it on YouTube.) In any case, Bob Somerby is tired of it, so instead he turns his gaze in a different direction:

Are these really the worst debate gaffes? You’ll note an omission in all such reports: When the press corps remembers the big debate blunders, the gaffes are all made by the candidates! The groaners committed by the own kind are left on the cutting-room floor! Once again, your gaze is directed away from the biggest clowns in our nation’s failing culture. In the interest of balance, we offer today the real biggest gaffes of all time.

….Worst debate performances ever:
Jim Lehrer, 1996/2000/2004
Bernie Shaw, 1988
Brian Williams/Tim Russert, Democratic debate, 10/30/07
Judy Woodruff, Democratic debate, January 2000
Tim Russert, Republican debate, January 2000 (in part for its comedy value)

Bob provides details on the first two. The rest you’ll have to dredge up from your own memory banks. Or YouTube.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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