All political debates are useless and nobody wins/loses from a debate
JFK wouldnt have won without the debate as the fundamentals that year clearly favored Nixon
Don't forget Al Gore sighing in the 2000 Debate and John Kerry winning all the debates in 2004. Anyway, I kind of think it is overrated. Sure it might've swung some undecideds Reagan's way, but on the whole, Reagan still would've won, although a few of the closer Reagan states might've gone Carter's way. As someone else pointed out, the October Surprise and the fact that the election, IIRC, fell on or close to the one year anniversary of the Hostage Crisis damaged Carter and in my opinion so did Ted Kennedy's primary challenge. I imagine a chunk of Anderson's support came from Kennedy supporters.
