Just 2 weeks ago Romney put his 'feelers' out in an ABC interview indicating his desire to steal Reagan's 1980 Debate one-liner ... that I suppose Romney thinks won Reagan the election.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And what have you learned as you studied all this about President Obama as a debater? What are you looking for?
MITT ROMNEY: Well I think he’s going to say a lot of things that aren’t accurate. And you know, I’d be tempted to go back to that wonderful line by Ronald Reagan, “There you go again.” But you can’t use something that–
So, there ya have it, Romney is going to try to win the debate by calling President Obama a liar via some one-liner zinger he memorized.
But, here is the flaw in Romney's strategy: Reagan's one-liner to Carter is not what won the election for Reagan.
In 1980, I supported President Carter and did not support Ronald Reagan. I lived in California and saw Reagan ruin the Screen Actors Guild Union when he was President of SAG, then I saw Reagan destroy California economy when he was Governor.
I watched the 1980 debate and as a supporter of Carter I knew, in that debate, the very minute he lost the election and it had nothing to do with Reagan's "there you go again" one-liner.
During the 1980 debate discussion swirling around nuclear weapons - Carter lost the election when he brought up the fact that he had discussed that issue with his then 13 year old daughter Amy. My head sunk, and I knew Carter lost the election when Carter said this:
"CARTER: I think to close out this discussion, it would be better to put into perspective what we're talking about. I had a discussion with my daughter, Amy, the other day, before I came here, to ask her what the most important issue was. She said she thought nuclear weaponry -- and the control of nuclear arms."
1980 Debate Between President Carter and Reagan
At the time, my opinion was, Carter just lost the election. There was only one week left in the campaign and from that moment on conservatives accused Carter of seeking Foreign Policy advice from his 13 year old daughter. There was no internet, just 3 channels and newspapers. The damage was done and one week later, Carter lost the election.
Romney does not aim straight --- which is one explanation as to why, after 7 years of running for President Romney still is behind and feels the need to constantly re-introduce himself to 'the People.'
Romney's peeps must have told him that in 1980 Reagan was accusing Carter of "misrepresenting" his (Reagan's) policies ---- which is exactly what Romney/Ryan are spouting.
During the Reagan debate with Carter, Reagan said, "there you go again" but, if Romney thinks that's what won Reagan the election he is stupid -- because that one-liner was not the reason Carter lost the election.
Romney has already tried, and failed, to steal one of Reagan's other lines, "are you better off than you were 4 years ago." And since the answer is obviously, YES, America is a hell of a lot better off than it was 4 years ago -- Romney most likely, won't be asking that question in the debate.
Ok, so know we know, Romney is going to accuse President Obama of being a liar via some one-liner that he has memorized. If Romney thinks he's gonna pull some one-liner that he memorized and consequently win the debate because of that memorized one-liner then Romney is a bigger fool than I think he is right now -- and I do think Romney is a fool, and a pathological liar, and an asshole.
Oh, someone might want to tell Romney, people actually liked Ronald Reagan before his debate with President Carter, they just weren't sure if he should be President. People don't like Mitt Romney
REAGAN: Favorable/Unfavorable: 41%/34%
ROMNEY: Fav/Unfav (average): 44.6%/49.4%
So, ... to steal from Lloyd Bentsen, "
Romney, you aint no Ronald Reagan."
