Memorable Quotes from U.S. Presidential Debates
Quick-witted
one-liners and gaffes from past presidential and vice presidential
debates
by Beth Rowen
The presidential and vice-presidential debates demand an
in-depth discussion of the most pressing issues of the day. In an era when
presidential candidates rarely veer from carefully hewed speeches and limit
their public appearances to addresses in front of sympathetic audiences, the
debates provide voters the opportunity to watch candidates think on their
feet and perform off script.
The candidates certainly arrive at the
debates armed with talking points and rehearsed responses, but they
inevitably face difficult, unexpected questions and are expected to give
thoughtful, substantive answers. A candidate’s performance in the
debates can make or break an election. Indeed, many of the most memorable
moments of an election campaign originate at the debates.
Debate
history
In 1960, Richard Nixon and John Kennedy participated in the
first general presidential debates. Presidential debates didn’t
reemerge until the 1976 election, largely because the candidates refused to
take part and because the Communications Act of 1934 required that networks
give equal air time to every candidate. In 1975, the Federal Communications
Commission changed their equal-time rules to allow the broadcast of debates
by major party candidates as long as they are considered “bona-fide
news events, sponsored by non-broadcast entities, and carried in their
entirety.” The League of Women voters stepped in and sponsored the
debates from 1976 to 1988, when the Commission on Presidential Debates was
established.
Here are some famous—and infamous—lines from
past debates.
Democratic vice-presidential
debate, Oct. 5, 1988
Democratic candidate Lloyd Bentsen
suggested that Republican candidate Dan Quayle didn’t have
enough experience to serve as vice president.
Quayle: "I have
as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the
presidency."
Bentsen: "I knew Jack Kennedy; Jack Kennedy was a
friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."
Democratic presidential primary debate, March 11,
1984
Former vice president Walter Mondale referred to a
Wendy's advertising campaign that compared the size of its burger to the
competitor’s when he attacked his rival, Sen. Gary
Hart.
Mondale: "When I hear your new ideas, I'm reminded of
that ad, 'Where's the beef?' "
Presidential
debate, Oct. 28, 1980
At the debate between Ronald Reagan and
President Jimmy Carter, Reagan asked voters to consider if
their lives had improved during the Carter
administration.
Reagan: "Ask yourself, 'Are you better off now
than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in
the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in
the country than there was four years ago? Is America as respected
throughout the world as it was?”
Presidential debate, Oct. 28, 1980
Ronald
Reagan chuckled as he uttered an incisive one-liner in response to
Jimmy Carter’s reference to Reagan’s votes against
Medicare and Social Security benefits as governor of
California.
Reagan: "There you go again."
Democratic vice-presidential debate, Oct. 13,
1992
Adm. William Stockdale, vice-presidential running mate to
independent candidate Ross Perot, elicited shock and laughter when he
fumbled his introduction.
Stockdale: "Who am I? Why am I here?
I'm not a politician."
Vice-presidential
debate, Oct. 13, 1992
Al Gore mocked President George H.W.
Bush for taking credit for playing a major role in ending the Cold
War.
Gore: “George Bush taking credit for the Berlin Wall
coming down is like the rooster taking credit for the sunrise.”
Presidential debate, Oct. 6, 1976
Jaws dropped
when President Gerald Ford seemed to have no grasp of the political
climate in Europe.
Ford: "There is no Soviet domination of
Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration."
Presidential debate, Oct. 13, 1988
During the
general election campaign in 1988 Massachusetts governor Michael
Dukakis was often criticized as stiff and lacking in passion. Debate
moderator Bernard Shaw attempted to elicit emotion from
Dukakis with this question: “Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were
raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the
killer?” Many observers believe that Dukakis’s flat reply doomed
his candidacy.
Dukakis: “No, I don't, Bernard. And I
think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life. I
don't see any evidence that it's a deterrent, and I think there are better
and more effective ways to deal with violent crime.”
Vice-presidential debate, Oct. 4, 2004
Vice
President Dick Cheney learned that there’s a big difference
between .org and .com at the end of a website name. Responding to attacks by
Sen. John Edwards about Halliburton, the oil-services company that
Cheney headed before becoming vice president and that was awarded several
lucrative contracts in Iraq, Cheney urged viewers to seek out the
truth from a website, factcheck.com. He should have said factcheck.org.
Internet users who followed Cheney’s advice were redirected to
a page that read, “Why we must not re-elect President Bush: a personal
message from George Soros.”
Cheney: “They know that
if you go, for example, to FactCheck.com, an independent Web site sponsored
by the University of Pennsylvania, you can get the specific details with
respect to Halliburton.”
Presidential
debate, Oct. 7, 1984
Ronald Reagan often took advantage of his
eloquence and sense of humor in the presidential debates, delivering
sharp-tongued barbs while maintaining a sly smile. Addressing the concern
over his age (he was 73 when he was reelected in 1984), Reagan said:
"I want you to know also I will not make age an issue of this
campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's
youth and inexperience."
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