Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?
Bloomberg Businessweek asks and answers Ronald Reagan’s famous question, for the 2012 election
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Moments before taking the stage for his only debate with Ronald Reagan, President Jimmy Carter made a miscalculation that may have cost him reelection. Backstage, Carter won a coin toss to determine who would field the night’s first question. He deferred to Reagan, which also meant Reagan would get the last word.
It was Oct. 28, 1980, one week before Election Day, and despite a sluggish economy and a crisis in the Middle East, Carter held a slight lead in the polls. For the first 87 minutes of the debate, Reagan parried Carter’s attacks. Then, at 11 p.m., he looked into the camera for his closing statement and addressed voters’ frustrations in a few epic lines: