# Has a candidate's debate performance ever substantially swung the vote? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-candidates-debate-performance-ever-substantially-swung-the-vote/266626 "2004-09-29T04:50:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-candidates-debate-performance-ever-substantially-swung-the-vote/266626/1 "2004-09-29T04:50:39Z")
Has debate performance on TV ever lost or won the election for a Presidential candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-candidates-debate-performance-ever-substantially-swung-the-vote/266626/2 "2004-09-29T05:25:32Z")
Nixon was haggard from a nasty cold, fatigued and unshaven from travelling on too tight a schedule, and in his frazzled condition is said to have appeared defensive and grumpy. Kennedy was, you know, Kennedy–clean & spitshined, smelling of talcom powder and sunshine. I dunno how things would have turned out if Nixon had been better groomed & rested, but his debate performance would have been tons better. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-candidates-debate-performance-ever-substantially-swung-the-vote/266626/3 "2004-09-29T05:33:14Z")
I’ve heard Gerald Ford made a slip-up in the 1976 presidential debates regarding Soviet control of Poland that some analysts think hurt him pretty bad. He ended up losing the election to Carter, of course. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-candidates-debate-performance-ever-substantially-swung-the-vote/266626/4 "2004-09-29T12:23:42Z")
They often can make a difference. Al Gore was leading George W. Bush four years ago going into the debates, but the first debate turned the tide for Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-candidates-debate-performance-ever-substantially-swung-the-vote/266626/5 "2004-09-29T12:38:00Z")
Carter and Reagan were pretty much neck and neck going into the only debate in 1980. Reagan sliced and diced Carter with his sunny disposition and the famous, “There you go again” remark. Reagan then beat the pants off of Carter in the election a week later. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-candidates-debate-performance-ever-substantially-swung-the-vote/266626/6 "2004-09-29T12:43:39Z")
I always thought Reagan’s “killer line” was “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”. That would be a good one for Kerry to use. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-candidates-debate-performance-ever-substantially-swung-the-vote/266626/7 "2004-09-29T13:01:18Z")
Note that Reagan actually was a horrible embarrassment during the 1980 (and 1984) debates. The _media_ decided he “won” and the opinion polls then shifted to reflect the media’s opinion. Same thing in 1988 and 2000. Remember, it’s not who actually did best, it’s who the _media_ decides did best (which has always been the Republican for the last 24 years). It’s impossible to tell at this late date if Nixon’s “loss” of the debates was real or the result of media spin. (Some claim that Nixon won the debates on radio but lost on TV.) Also, they haven’t actually been debates for a long, long time. More of a joint press conference. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-candidates-debate-performance-ever-substantially-swung-the-vote/266626/8 "2004-09-29T14:52:41Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Remember, it’s not who actually did best, it’s who the _media_ decides did best (which has always been the Republican for the last 24 years). Does your 24 years include the [Clinton-Dole debates](http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/news/9610/06/analysis/) in 1996? I can barely believe the media would have given Dole the nod on those. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-candidates-debate-performance-ever-substantially-swung-the-vote/266626/9 "2004-09-29T15:03:34Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Nixon was haggard from a nasty cold, fatigued and unshaven from travelling on too tight a schedule, and in his frazzled condition is said to have appeared defensive and grumpy. > > Kennedy was, you know, Kennedy–clean & spitshined, smelling of talcom powder and sunshine. > > I dunno how things would have turned out if Nixon had been better groomed & rested, but his debate performance would have been tons better. IIRC polls taken of people who listened to the debate on the radio (hence didn’t “see” the candidates) felt Nixon was the “winner”. People who watched the debate on TV felt Kennedy was the “winner”. The sad point being people seemed to be swayed by how the candidates looked more than the content of what they were saying. I also think that the Nixon/Kennedy debate was the first ever to be televised so no one was thinking much about how Nixon looked. Needless to say campaign managers learned their lesson after that.