Theory of the GAFFE - The Nevada Governor Debate
Las Vegas Review Journal Despite candidate and campaign handlers best efforts most every political debate contain many potential gaffes. Most "slips of the tongue" never become egregious--the folklore of a given campaign--rather they simply disappear into the background.
Everyone remembers President Ford's failure to acknowledge Russian influence in Poland, VP candidate Benson reminding Dan Quayle that he was "not Jack Kennedy" and Al Gore's Boston sighs. In this election cycle, George Allen's (Sen-VA) reticence regarding his maternal linage (Jewish Grandparents) qualifies as a gaff that alters the course of a campaign. For every gaff that has post-debate-media-legs there are dozens that do not draw even a mention. Why is it that some gaffes resonate and others evaporate?
My answer has little to do with the actual mistake and everything to do with how the "blunder" fits within the prevailing narratives that define an election. What candidate's say and do have meaning in a context and that context is often defined by media coverage or explicit or implicit standards of the candidates own making.
