The "beef" was actually the right answer. Would Gary Hart have done any better? Maybe a little, but probably not so much in the end. It is hard to believe that some thought Mondale had a chance after the first debate...then after the Reagan "age" answer in debate #2, it turned into a near 50 state sweep.
Democrats weren't winning in '84 given the economic improvement from early '83 right through '84.
And yet after 1982, Reagan was as widely viewed as roadkill, just like Clinton after 1994 and Obama after 2010.
