Classic VP Debate - 1992

In anticipation of Thursday night's Vice Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, I think its a great time to go back in time and take a look at one of the more DISASTROUS debates in election history. Let's turn our attention to 1992 and the VP debate between Al Gore, Dan Quayle, and Admiral James Stockdale.

1992 was a rare year for a presidential election in that the independent candidate, Ross Perot, had enough support to justify him being involved in debates. His VP candidate was the closest you could find to a kindly grandfather. Unfortunately, like most kindly grandfathers, Admiral Stockdale was very hard of hearing, couldn't see, and was perhaps going a bit senile.

For those of you who don't recall the classic debate, here are a couple of clips. I vividly remembering this happening and being completely surprised that this was actually occurring.



Wow, I almost forgot about how odd this was. How can you forget your own opening statement? Or if you didn't forget it, at least know enough to have your glasses on. Let's move on...



Whoops! Now he forgot his hearing aid? I'm not here to pick on this poor guy. I'm just using it as an example of how a couple of innocent mishaps can destroy a presidential campaign. Let's hope the same thing doesn't happen Thursday night.