Oh please. Driving the economy into the ground is what did him in. The rabbit thing had nothing to do with it.
Being a national joke had nothing to do with Carter’s loss. We are more serious than that.
I believe 444 days for the hostages may have had something to do with it as well.
Don't forget the following acts of treachery:
1. Betraying the Shah of Iran (America's most loyal ally other than Israel in the Middle East) and allowing Islamofascists to overtake Iran. Carter then allowed these same Islamofascists to make a mockery of the United States.
2. Forcing Israel to surrender sovereign Israeli territory to their enemies.
3. Allowing the Soviets to invade Afghanistan with no response other than to destroy the lifelong dreams of American Olympic athletes. This set the stage to eventually turn Afghanistan into a terrorist training ground.
4. Betraying Taiwan in favor of the Chicoms.
5. Ignoring genocide in the Cambodian killing fields.
As far as the economy, Carter somehow managed to create a seemingly unending recession along with high unemployment, high interest rates, and runaway inflation. The irony is that it should be IMPOSSIBLE for all of these economic conditions to exist simultaneously.