# Reagan-Carter Debate: "There you go again" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 25, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reagan-carter-debate-there-you-go-again/507656 "2009-08-25T17:47:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reagan-carter-debate-there-you-go-again/507656/21 "2009-08-27T00:38:47Z")
Hey, RickJay, I appreciate the discussion. I hope the Mods leave the thread in My Humble Opinion. If this gets moved to Great Debates I’m not going. The posters there are usually angry, and sometimes quite nuts, and I don’t want to play. In Great Debates you end up with one page of discussion and five pages that are taken over by the usual suspects. Great Debates should be renamed “10 of the same people bitching”. Hope you day has been good. I appreciate your viewpoint, but it’s time to water the tomatos. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reagan-carter-debate-there-you-go-again/507656/22 "2009-08-27T00:50:11Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > And from then on, until an award winning performance from ‘W’ for ‘worst president ever’, Carter held and defended the title. Oh, please. Buchanan and Hoover were abominable. Carter didn’t do a particularly good job, but he was far from the worst president ever. > [@ghardester](#): > > And you can argue over the details and causes and say it had nothing to do with Reagan, but a decade of prosperity followed. Theory is nice but results matter. What do you mean? The US tended to prosper while Reagan was President, therefore he definitely caused it? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reagan-carter-debate-there-you-go-again/507656/23 "2009-08-28T03:17:21Z")
In context, it was meant to convey “there you go misrepresenting my record again,” with a demeanor that was meant to sound more like sorrow than anger. I don’t remember most of the specifics. It’s interesting, though, that Carter was accusing Reagan of wanting to cut Medicare. That was a Democratic line of attack on Republicans for ages, and now the Republicans are using it against the current administration. ---
**Author:** ![Jerseyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Jerseyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerseyman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reagan-carter-debate-there-you-go-again/507656/24 "2009-08-28T04:19:30Z")
Carter lost because he treated the electorate like intelligent human beings capable of understanding the issues and because so many were not, they felt that his presumption of equality made them look fools. Reagan treated them like fools feeling offended by information beyond their education, so they believed he was respecting them and he never had to explain anything. President was the best B-movie part he ever played in his life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reagan-carter-debate-there-you-go-again/507656.md?page=1)