In 1982, Adlai Stevenson III (D) was running against incumbant Jim Thompson (R) in the Illinois gubernatorial election. At one point, a reporter (more or less out of the blue) asked Stevenson if he was a wimp.
Stevenson should have responded "Of course not! Next question!", or "Is that really your question?", or anything to downplay the question (which shouldn't have been hard), lest the question became a subject of public discussion. The question was stupid, and did not deserve emphasis, and a shrewd politician would realize that any emphasis of it would be bad.
Instead, Stevenson responded by saying he wasn't a wimp, and went on to complain that Jim Thompson treated him like one.
What a politically dumb move! At that point, the door was open for Thompson to address the issue.
Thompson soon responded to the effect of: "I never called Senator Stevenson a wimp. I never said he was a wimp. I'm sorry he thinks I called him a wimp," and on and on.
The Lincoln-Douglas debates it wasn't, but Stevenson, by charging that Thompson treated him like a wimp, had allowed Thompson to say the word "wimp" several times in association with Stevenson. (Thompson won the election.)
See, there are some things you just should avoid talking about when your running for high office. Nobody needs to know what kinds of underwear you wear. Nobody needs to hear you say you're not a wimp (and if they do, it's already too late.)
Back to my comments...I still have, even today, a button that says, "Don't be a wimp, Vote Republican!" Thank you Big Jim Thompson...I wore it all during the 02 congressional campaign...