What caused Ford's late charge vs Carter in 1976?

[Bo]

Ford's criticisms about Carter's inexperience made many people who previously supported Carter to think twice about him. Also, I think that people might have began to feel a slight improvement in the economy and decided to go for Ford. Finally, I think some people were forgetting about Watergate and leaving it in the past and beginning to focus more on current issues, and thus some voters unhappy with Ford's pardon of Nixon might have changed their minds and decided to vote for him.         

[Bo]

In a way, Ford's gaffe can be interpreted in two ways; The conventional way in which he didn't really know what the hell he was talking about, (He did, in fact know what he was talking about), or in the way that Ford probably thought, that by saying this, he can contest Eastern Europe and try to show American "interests" and "power" in a Soviet-dominated region.

Not sure exactly what he meant by it, but the former is certainly less likely.

I think Ford himself said that when he made that gaffe, he meant that the Soveit Union will never crush and dominate the spirits of Eastern Europeans and will dever destroy their desires for freedom and liberty. Even though I agree that without this gaffe, Ford might have very well won the election (although maybe not the PV).