Reply #14: I don't think Carter was supposed to easily take Reagan

[WI_DEM]

perhaps on debate points--your talking points, yes--and when it was tallied up as if it were a true debate, Carter did edge Reagan, but on the ability to connect with an audience, which is what most people watching the debate seem to consider most important, Reagan was always considered the one to beat. Carter, after all, was considered a mediocre public speaker while Reagan had years of experience in front of the camera and was very telegenic, according to the pundits. Of course it was four years later that Mondale suprised the pundits by beating Reagan in their first debate because Reagan was clearly over prepared and probably suffering from early onset Alheimers. But then in the second debate he was back on form--not substance--but form--with his quip about not making Mondale's 'age and inexperience' an issue.