2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumWhen was the last time a Republican beat a Democrat in a Presidential debate?
When it comes to post-debate polls asking who won the debate, I remember Obama and Kerry winning 100% of their debates vs. McCain and Bush. I don't have data on Gore vs. Bush, but I know the criticism vs. Gore was media-created, as opposed to being a reaction from TV viewers (omg Gore's shirt color is ugly...omg Gore just sighed and that didn't look right! omg Gore was so stiff...etc.).
When was the last time the people thought the Republican had the upper hand in a Presidential debate?
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ladjf
(17,320 posts)him during at least one of the debates. I don't know what was wrong with Gore. He seemed to have just "frozen up". He never answered the questions asked by members of the audience. He kept saying over and over, the "Social Security must be in a lock box." He was correct. But, it was irrelevant to the questions being asked.
Marzupialis
(398 posts)I sort of wanted to know what people thought after the debate in terms of poll.
ladjf
(17,320 posts)
WI_DEM
(33,497 posts)and for 'sighing' I think the 2000 debates except for the last one went to Bush basically because they low-balled it so much and Gore did too many stunts which backfired such as approaching Bush & sighing.
Dukakis in 1988 was very technical, robotic and made it easier for Poppy Bush.
Mondale clearly won the first debate with Reagan in 1984 but Reagan came back in the second due to his quip about the age and inexperience of Mondale to diffuse the age issue that erupted due to the first debate.
Carter won in 1980 on debate points, but Reagan won on style and ease in front of the camera and a majority of viewers thought he won too.
Ford and Carter split their debates. In one debate on Foreign policy Ford caused a big gaffe when he said that Yugoslavia wasn't dominated by the Soviet Union.
Kennedy won the debate on TV, looking tanned and confident while Nixon was perspiring and shifty-eyed. But those who listened to the 1960 debate on the radio thought that Nixon won it.
bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)So they can come out the winner.Gore won ALL of those debates the problem was he had a media that was negative toward him
unblock
(52,183 posts)reagan was his usual idiot self and mondale was dead right on every policy question, but the charisma gap was hard to bear.
dukakis was doing fine, i thought, against poppy, who was certainly no reagan when it came to debates, but the press reduced the entire thing to the ridiculously inappropriate question about if he would still oppose the death penalty if his wife were raped. ignoring the fact that it's a huge television no-no to paint a target for criminals on someone's back, the press could only rail against dukakis's calm opposition to the death penalty (as if abandoning it when crime hit home was the better move).
it was, at best, a trap, and the press deemed that the appropriate response was emotional outrage. it cemented the narrative that dukakis was cold and unemotional, and that doomed his campaign. the public went along with it, though it's not clear to me if they would have dwelled on that one question if it weren't for press coverage.
may have been trapped, but he still blew the question. You can easily answer that question and still maintain a stance against capital punishment. Dukakis got blind sided and blew it.
unblock
(52,183 posts)he had to express outrage and passion in defense of his family, a politically acceptable level of controlled rage at the hypothetical rapist, and yet make it work with an explanation of why he would not want the rapist killed.
is that possible? absolutely, especially with the benefit of hindsight or had he been prepped for that specific question.
but to handle such a question on the fly? that's a tough one. yes, dukakis blew it.
but when was the last time a republican was asked a question where there's a limited range of "right answer" and anything outside that limited range ruins your campaign?
BootinUp
(47,138 posts)Marzupialis
(398 posts)So far everyone has stated that they think, or they feel, that Gore lose points due to this or that non-substantive "issue," without citing polls, which was the central part of my question. I will assume Gore won the debates and the media spun it against him, due to lack of reference to debate-related polls. Thanks.
WI_DEM
(33,497 posts)Gore/Bush 2000
Gore
Bush
NEITHER (vol.)
BOTH/EQUALLY (vol.)
No
opinion
%
%
%
%
%
2000 Oct 17
46
44
*
10
*
2000 Oct 11
36
49
1
13
1
2000 Oct 3
48
41
2
8
1
* Less than 0.5%
http://www.gallup.com/poll/13525/what-history-tells-about-second-third-debates.aspx
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)Since there is no significant difference between 46% and 44%.
rurallib
(62,406 posts)This was at a time when the Republican Party was the progressive party and Dems defended the status quo.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts))
HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)The closest was Reagan's "There you go again" line, but it was all bullshit. Carter just didn't know how to politely yell "BULLSHIT!" from the podium.
Robbins
(5,066 posts)Bush won the second debate.The talk show style debate of them sitting next to each other worked to Bush's advantage.
Marzupialis
(398 posts)Gore won the 1st one narrowly and Bush won the second debate according to registered voters who watched it:
http://abcnews.go.com/images/pdf/833a1SecondPresDebate.pdf
It seems remarkable to me then that GOP'ers have not been able to win any of the next 7 debates or so (or 5 or 6, not sure)
Even I thought Bush won that debate.Gore won the others.But there Is no spinning that he lost the second debate to Bush.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)The first was where Gore continually sighed at Bush's answers, right? Was the second one the town hall where Gore awkwardly invaded Bush's space?
Robbins
(5,066 posts)That was talk show style debate.Gore sighed at Bush's answer where public thought Gore narrowly won or It was tied.The last one was
town hall when he Invaded Bush's space.That debate Is one where public thought Gore did the best.
So 2000 you had 1 with Gore narrowly won or tied.1 where Bush won and 1 where Gore won.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)Just look at the responses from the OP.
Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)It was an embarrassing spectacle, and probably had some impact on the election.
Edwards looked, well, small and massively unqualified next to evil Dick.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)when replaying to this thread. Ya, know, a poll, a link, etc. Your opinion is not what I am looking for. How many times do I have to say this?
onenote
(42,685 posts)
jenmito
(37,326 posts)both the "likeability" 
of Bush AND the brains of Kerry and Gore. He also happens to have the FACTS on his side compared to Romney. For all these reasons, I can't WAIT for the debates. The lying, thin-skinned, flip-flopping Willard will be a hot mess when pitted against Obama.
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)Dukakis flubbed with the Bernard Shaw question about Kitty Dukakis being raped and murdered. Bush, Sr. debated well.
In 2000, Gore did well on the substance of the issues, but the media hammered him for days for sighing too much, wearing too much makeup and getting the facts wrong about a girl in Florida with a missing desk at school. It wasn't fair, but by the time the media got done with him, Bush was the "winner" of that first debate.
MADem
(135,425 posts)and prep him for his "There you go again" debates against JC.
They cheated to win.
Every time I see George Will on television, my blood boils.
