Prime Time Showdown

Face to face with Reagan, Mondale makes his case

Ronald Reagan thought he had saved his best shot for last. He reminded voters that as a challenger in 1980, he had asked Americans, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" and that they had answered by electing him President. Now, he said, the question should be "Is America better off than it was four years ago?" The answer, he said, "has to be yes."

It was a hard point to rebut, but Walter Mondale was ready with an answer: "The real question...

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