1980: No Reagan better off then 4 years ago moment or there you go again.

[LiberalJunkie]

If Reagan just performed ok in the debates what would the result be?

[Maxwell]

Narrow Reagan win, with a much better performance from John Anderson.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Probably doesn't get a majority of the vote either.

[Blackacre]

Would be very narrow. Reagan would not have become a Conservative god like he did even if he won.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Narrow Reagan win, with a much better performance from John Anderson.

Probably that or a narrow Carter win.  I don't think that "there you go again" or "are you better off than you were four years ago" won the election for Reagan.  Dick DeVos tried both of those, and they were thrown right back in his face.

[Person Man]

Narrow Reagan win, with a much better performance from John Anderson.

Probably that or a narrow Carter win.  I don't think that "there you go again" or "are you better off than you were four years ago" won the election for Reagan.  Dick DeVos tried both of those, and they were thrown right back in his face.

Certain things only work for so long. Especially if you were an agent of that decline and then were an agent of the following stagnation after the decline was stopped.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Narrow Reagan win, with a much better performance from John Anderson.

Probably that or a narrow Carter win.  I don't think that "there you go again" or "are you better off than you were four years ago" won the election for Reagan.  Dick DeVos tried both of those, and they were thrown right back in his face.

Certain things only work for so long. Especially if you were an agent of that decline and then were an agent of the following stagnation after the decline was stopped.

What do you mean?

[Person Man]

Well, they aren't just magic words and if you are seem as sabatoging the recovery, you lose some use of those words.

[Liberalrocks]

Carter may have picked up several very close southern states, many were decided by under 3pts but it still would not have been a tight race...imo his loss had more to do with the hostage situation and the public being fed up. Economy was also bad but had it not been for the hostages Carter proably would have been narrowly reelected.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Reagan had to prove to the public that he was capable of leading -- remember, he was old even then -- and that he was not a terrifyingly conservative hardliner. Doing well in the debate was a requirement for a Reagan victory. The election would be significantly closer had Reagan not landed some good soundbites as he did, and if he had performed poorly, he'd have straight up lost.

And as much as I've grown to dislike some of Reagan's policies, I still see him as a far superior administrator to Carter. At least in the pre-Alzheimers era of his first term. Things really came off the rails post-1984.

[Jerseyrules]

What if Carter agreed to debate Anderson and Reagan?  I can't find the debate video, only transcripts, but according to all sources I have the consensus was Reagan won hands-down, but both of them spent a lot of time attacking carter because he didn't show up.  So would Anderson have been able to gain traction?  Would this have benefitted Reagan?  Or would a more widely-seen lackluster performance from Anderson send him even lower?  Or would Reagan benefit even more by destroying two candidates who would likely gang up on him?