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Reagan carter oct 28 1980 debate there you go again
"There you go again" was a phrase spoken during the 1980 United States presidential election debate by Republican presidential candidate Governor Ronald Reagan to his Democratic opponent, incumbent President Jimmy Carter. Reagan would use the line in a few debates over the years, always in a way intended to disarm his opponent.
Contents
- Reagan carter oct 28 1980 debate there you go again
- Reagan mondale debate there you go again again
- Context
- Later use
- References
"There you go again" emerged as a single defining phrase of the 1980 presidential election. The phrase has endured in the political lexicon in news headlines, as a way to quickly refer to various presidential candidates' bringing certain issues up repeatedly during debates, or to Reagan himself.
Reagan mondale debate there you go again again
Context
The one debate between Reagan and Carter of the 1980 presidential year was held a week before the election by the League of Women Voters. As Carter went on the offensive against Reagan's record regarding Medicare, Reagan replied with "There you go again." In 1984, Reagan's opponent Walter Mondale came prepared with a reply in case Reagan used the line again, which he did. However, Reagan disarmed Mondale with another line, in which he took the issue of his own age off the table by saying he wouldn't hold Mondale's "youth and inexperience" against him.
An Associated Press article from 2008 stated:
Later use
Reagan would sometimes use the phrase during his presidential press conferences.
During the 2006 Connecticut Democratic Senate Primary Debate, Incumbent Senator Joe Lieberman used the line a number of times against his primary challenger Ned Lamont. During the 2008 vice-presidential debate, Republican vice-presidential nominee, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, used the line on Democratic opponent Joe Biden. Both Lieberman and Palin lost those races; however, Lieberman went on to defeat Lamont in the general election running as an Independent.
During the 2012 Presidential Election, former President Bill Clinton paraphrased the line after criticizing the policies of the Republican platform by saying 'There they go again'.
During the 2016 Vice Presidential debates, Republican Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence used the line "There they go again" in responding to Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Kaine's statement that Pence was a “chief cheerleader for the privatization of social security.”