alternatehistory.com

There were two debates in the 1984 presidential election, held on October 7 and October 21. It is considered by virtually everyone that the first debate was a complete fiasco for Reagan. Reagan himself knew that he had choked. "As soon as he left the stage," reported Lou Cannon in President Reagan, "Reagan confessed to [adviser Stu] Spencer that he had flopped." According to Jack Germond and Jules Witcover, when Mondale left the stage, he confided to an aide that "This guy is gone" -- as in mentally not all there. A Newsweek/Gallup poll found 54 percent of debate-watchers giving the victory to Mondale, and only 35 percent to Reagan.

We know what happened at the second debate, of course. When Reagan used the "I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience" joke he neutralized the first debate in one fell swoop.

But what if Reagan never utters that one joke, or mangles the delivery so badly that the punchline gets lost? How does this affect the election?
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