In the third and final presidential debate between Kerry and Bush, Kerry appeared to have owned the evening, and had scored several very important points on issues that were important to the average voter, and it appeared that he would have the campaign wrapped up by looking good in the polls from then on out.
However, the next day turned out to be disastrous for Kerry.
Here's what happened, in case you all forgot.
Late in the third debate Kerry seized on Bush's inability to answer the question, is homosexuality a choice, by stating that "we are god's children" and "I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as."
Initially it looked like a very good thing to say; pointing out that we are as god made us, that all citizens of America are equal and equally loved, and that any parents' child could be gay.
But the next day Lynne Cheney (Dick's wife and Mary's Mother) threw a feigned outraged fit of, "I am speaking as a mom and a pretty indignant mom. This is not a good man. What a cheap and tawdry political trick."
What had been at first seen as a debate changing moment that gave the impression that Kerry was more in touch with the common household and conventional wisdom, had the next day turned into Kerry rudely "outing" a Lesbian, exploiting a family's pain, and inappropriately using a child of the opposition against the opposition for political reasons, all of which were big no-nos.
Debate will forever go on as to whether Kerry's "outing" of Mary Cheney was what tipped the balance towards Bush's favor, but what is irrefutable is that the 2004 election was close, and Kerry came within Ohio, Florida, Missouri, or Colorado of obtaining the white house, and Lynne's outrage must have had an affect on a lot of independents and moderates.
What can be learned from this lesson:
1.First the obvious; the candidate should never invoke the children or spouse of the opposition in political attacks, in fact the names of the opposition's family members should never be mentioned at all (by the candidate).
2.the candidate should be careful on wedge issues, and try not to give too strong of a position one way or the other on them.
3.Never make an assumption as to what the average household will hold as conventional wisdom.
4.Make no assumptions based on debate performances, and never assume that something the candidate says will give them an advantage.
5.Feigned outrage from the opposition's surrogates is a candidate's worse nightmare (as Palin has discovered from community organizers and Obama has discovered from pigs).
6.Let your surrogates do your dirty work.
7.We wont know who has won until the election is actually over.