Ford avoids Soviet "mistake" in Carter debate

What if Ford hadn't spoke before he thought what he was going to say in his 1976 debate with Governor Jimmy Carter?

Ford's mistake was saying "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford Administration".

Could he have won..or did that slip-up have only a minor effect on his campaign?
 
Ford had the momentum at the end and so minus the blown response to the eastern Europe question I believe that he would have crossed the finish line the winner.
 
Ford had the momentum at the end and so minus the blown response to the eastern Europe question I believe that he would have crossed the finish line the winner.

Indeed. General agreement between the Carter and Ford campaigns (as well as historians) is that had the election been held 3-4 days later Ford would have won.

Fixing the response to that question accomplishes probably the same result.


As for a Ford Presidency… I dunno. People forget that Carter was pretty conservative on most issues (mostly because he's been quite liberal out of office, and was massively incompetent on most issues in office) so a Ford Presidency could be seen as a successful Carter Presidency.

Carter created the Department of Education, that's probably out. Carter began the military build-up—that's in if Ford can get close to balancing the budget. Ford might raise taxes (he was a pretty standard balance-the-budget Republican, in an era just before voodoo economics took over)—that could trigger the '78 tax revolt earlier or bigger.

Hopefully Ford appoints Volcker to the Fed, otherwise the US is going to be in bigger trouble down the road.

Ford might be able to push through some kind of energy plan—nuclear power? We could butterfly Three Mile Island.


The 1980 elections? Well, Republicans are probably screwed. I can't really see anyone stopping Kennedy if he wants it…*but remember a major reason he ran was simply because he was pissed at how badly Carter was screwing up.

Governor Jerry Brown of California? Perhaps someone from the '76 campaign?
 
No Reagan in 1980? Huh. His election was the triumph of the conservative movement that had kick-started in c. 1968 and been mobilizing all throughout the 70s, and which, according to some, has only just lost its control of US politics. Without a Reagan victory in 1980, would the conservatives have fallen apart without a standard bearer, or would the movement have simply held on for another election or two?

Would they get a "breakthrough candidate" a la Reagan in, say, 1984? 1988? Who could it be? By then, Reagan is getting awfully old to be running for a first term.
 
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