Detroit debate could make or break a candidate: Michigan is home to many flubs

Jul. 30--Debates carry the potential for great reward and the risk of debilitating consequences for candidates.

As Michigan prepares to host the second Democratic presidential candidates' debate on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Fox Theatre, the candidates will be trying to ensure they either have a viral moment that catapults their campaign into the top tier or watching their opponents for flubs that could seriously cripple their campaign.

Consider the first Democratic debate in Miami last month. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California was widely considered to have one of the strongest performances with her pointed criticism of former Vice President Joe Biden's record on race and busing to desegregate schools during the 1970s.

"There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day, and that little girl was me," Harris said, adding that some of Biden's comments on race and actions on busing were "hurtful."

Biden tried to defend his record, but struggled in his response and at one point cut himself off, saying "My time's up. I'm sorry."

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The immediate implication of the viral moment had Harris rising and Biden dropping in the polls, although Biden still remains in the lead in all the surveys that have been taken since the Miami debate, according to Real Clear Politics, which tracks presidential polling.

There will be a rematch of Biden and Harris on Wednesday, the second day of the two-days of debates in Detroit. Others participating Wednesday: former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro; New York businessman Andrew Yang; U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York; New York City Mayor Bill deBlasio; U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee.

The Tuesday lineup: U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; former U.S. Reps. Beto O'Rourke of Texas and John Delaney of Maryland; Montana Gov. Steve Bullock; former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper; U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio and author Marianne Williamson of California.

Some of the biggest moments -- good and bad -- have come during debates in Michigan:

-- The top one has to be former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who during a 2011 presidential debate at Oakland University in Rochester was flummoxed by a question on which federal departments he would eliminate. "Commerce, Education," he said pausing, while counting on his fingers and listening while his rivals suggested other potential candidates for shutdowns. "The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops." Later in the debate, he circled back to his problematic answer, noting Energy was the third department he wanted to eliminate. But he never really recovered and suspended his campaign two months later.

-- In 1994, an elderly and seemingly confused Michigan Secretary of State Richard Austin asked the debate moderator, "pro-choice?" when asked whether he was pro-life or pro-choice on abortion. Austin, a Democrat and the first African American elected to statewide office, couldn't remember what the term meant. He went on to lose his reelection bid to Republican Candice Miller.

-- Democrat Hillary Clinton tried to land a knockout punch when she accused Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders of betraying Michigan by voting against the 2008auto bailout. The $82 billion that helped finance the bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler was part of a much larger Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that covered more than $700 billion that went to bail out the largest banks, and insurance giant AIG, which Sanders did not support. "If everybody had voted as he did, I believe the auto industry would have collapsed," Clinton said during a 2016 debate in Flint. "You were either for saving the auto industry or you were against it." The attack didn't work, though, and Clinton lost Michigan by a narrow margin in the presidential primary, even though she ended up winning the Democratic nomination and ultimately losing to Republican Donald Trump. Sanders landed back in the Senate, switching his party allegiance back to independent until he decided to run for president again in 2020 as a Democrat.

-- The 2016 Republican presidential debate at the Fox Theater in Detroit was full of rancor and bombast with most of the GOP candidates taking shots at Donald Trump and the New York businessman responding in kind. He came up with the nicknames "Little Marco" for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and "Lyin' Ted" for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and in what could be the first oblique reference to a penis in a presidential debate, Trump and Rubio had an exchange over the size of their hands. Trump noted that Rubio must also be referring to another part of his anatomy, "and I guarantee you, there's no problem there." Even with such controversial statements, which continued throughout the campaign, Trump eventually dispatched all the other GOP candidates and won the 2016 election.

-- In 2000, it was Texas Gov. George W. Bush's turn in the hot seat during a debate at Calvin College in Grand Rapids with most of the other GOP candidates ganging up on him. But he had a moment of levity with U.S. Sen. John McCain, when the two shook hands on stage and promised not to run negative ads against one another, while businessman Steve Forbes, who had been running attack ads against Bush, said, "I will continue to tell the truth." Ten days after the debate, Bush and McCain started airing negative ads against one another in the days leading up to the Michigan presidential primary. By the time Michigan's primary election rolled around, Forbes had dropped out of the race and McCain won the battle, winning the Michigan presidential primary, but Bush won the election war, narrowly winning the electoral college vote over Democrat Al Gore.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.

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