A Presidential Debate Can Make or Break a Campaign, Here’s How | NYTimes

So, the

presidential

debate

s... I mean, you could pick so many synonyms for disaster. Murder-suicide. Master class. Multiple stages... Make or

break

... Shoot down... Multiple vehicle crash... W

here

to start? In a live

debate

, every second has the potential to become a viral moment. “And that girl was me.” But only a few truly

make

or

break

a

presidential

campaign

. "I have no comments". So we asked these political reporters, past and present, to watch some debates. "I'm sorry". I had forgotten the strange expression on my face. To tell us how these moments shaped history and why we still talk about them today.

No one else remembers anything that happened the night Rick Perry forgot about the third federal agency. “When I got t

here

, there were three government agencies that had disappeared: commerce, education and... what's the third? Let's see." And this is where everything goes really wrong. "Can't you name the third one?" "The third government agency I would eliminate." And he goes to his notes: “I can't. The third one I can't, I'm sorry." "It was everywhere. This was a historic political catastrophe. His best moment could resonate in the media, but in reality it is much more likely to do so.

When Chris Christie reached this debate stage, his presidential

campaign

was not going to happen. nowhere. When he left, he had done a lot to ensure that Rubio was not. “And let's dispel this fiction once and for all that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing.” the kind of prefabricated line he had planned to blurt out at some point in the debate: "But I would add this: Let's dispel this fiction that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing." And he does it again. And Christie is ready. what

make

s Washington, D.C. The 25-second memorized speech that is exactly what his advisors gave him.” "Here's the bottom line: This notion that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing is simply not true." "There he is." "Number Three." "He knows exactly what he's doing." “There it is, the 25-second memorized speech.” There it is, and Christie is ready. "That's the reason why..." "There's everyone." “—this campaign is so—” Marco Rubio had all the attention, all the momentum in this debate, and suddenly Christie stabbed him.

Frankly, it was a murder-suicide, the weapon of choice. They were Rubio's own words. Trump, as he can see, has no particular role in this exchange. He really benefited in many ways, and this is emblematic, of the other candidates thinking that if they could eliminate everyone else. and put Trump in a one-on-one matchup, then they would be the ones. "The debate is over." It's 1992. There was a very difficult recession. Unemployment reached almost 8%. Then came this obscure governor from Arkansas who had held town halls all over the country. He excelled in them. "In my state, when people lose their jobs, there's a good chance I know them by name.

When a factory closes, I know the people who ran it." She begins to nod. She agrees with him. This is a masterclass in how to make a person feel heard and connected through eye contact, whereas if you look at George Bush, he is looking around. There was no way. George Bush was going to play catch-up after that, in the 1984 election, Ronald Reagan was already the oldest president in American history, and as we approached the final stretch of the campaign, growing questions arose. about his age and mental state. Ronald Reagan's greatest gift, of course, was humor. “I will not make age an issue in this campaign. "I am not going to exploit my opponent's youth and inexperience for political purposes." (Laughter) You can see Walter Mondale.

And he can't help but laugh too. And then he told people that that was when he knew that he had lost the presidential election. He is now 76 years old. There are a lot of people, including a lot of Democrats, who will point to this moment with Reagan and say that's the way you talk about age. Ford's photographs characterized him as something of a klutz: “There is no Soviet domination in the East. Europe, and there never will be under the Ford administration.” "I'm sorry. Could I just…?” I stopped him because you don't fool a president with comments.

You come back to him and say, excuse me: “Did I understand what you said, sir? Aren't the Russians using Eastern Europe as their own sphere of influence? He knew what he was trying to say, but he confused it so much that it seemed as if he was saying that the Russians don't have any influence or control over Eastern European countries. “I don't think the Poles. They consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union.” Poor guy, this performance fit perfectly into the clichéd image people had of him (phone ringing) “Hello.” And it took them 24 hours to release a corrective statement that said what they really wanted to say, etcetera.

But by then it was too late (Applause). A mistake made in the current climate with all the reactions that immediately follow is preserved forever. In effect, you are running against yourself and your own image as you have created it over the years.