Re "Some questions a cynic would ask at the debate" (Viewpoints, Oct. 2): Bruce Maiman says that presidential debate gaffes have never made a difference, but there might be one exception: Gerald Ford's blunder in 1976, when he said there was "no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe." He was trailing in the polls but it was close and Ford was gaining when this goof came to dominate coverage.
The goal of all debate teams ever since has been to avoid the Big Screw-up, which is why every statement is parsed in such careful terms that nothing of any substance gets said.
The debates are an audition. We're casting a movie, and since television took over in 1960, the winner has always been the guy who looked more like a movie president. That's why nobody bald or fat or odd-looking will ever again be considered eligible for the office. Harrison Ford could run and win. After all, he was already cast once as president, which not even Ronald Reagan could claim.
-- Steve Cannon, Sacramento
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