In the 1976 Debate with Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford made a HUGE blunder when he said that Poland was not part of the Eastern Europen bloc nations under Soviet influence (not an exact quote). It is believed to this day that that was what cost him the Election; moreso than his pardon of Richard Nixon. It’s still talked about today. I wonder how many FReepers here remember that.
Wouldn’t it be great if Romney could find a way to hang this gaffe around Obama’s neck in a Debate?
I do remember that, and I remember that you could tell right away that Ford knew he had blundered and as much as he tried to talk it back, he couldn’t.
Of course, it is a different America now and we have someone in office not that far afield from the old Soviet Commissars...and he has endless time to get ready for that in a debate, with a media working overtime to protect him...but this was a bad blunder, the only way it could be worse for him is to have done it in the fishbowl of a Presidential debate.