12 cringe-worthy moments in debate history
POSTED: 06:59 AM PDT Oct 02, 2012
UPDATED: 07:28 AM PDT Oct 02, 2012
As the first presidential debate nears, look back at 12 cringe-worthy moments in debate history.
Hal O'Brien/Wikimedia Commons
Dukakis' Death Penalty Debacle -- Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis' famous answer to a death-penalty question in the 1988 presidential debate might have cost him the race. When asked whether he would favor an irrevocable death penalty if his wife were raped and murdered, Dukakis said "No, I don't, and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life." His response was seen as cold and detached and his poll numbers plunged.
