But 2012 was barely the first political season to see the sudden collapse of a can’t - lose campaign . We proudly present our list of the five most impressive presidentialcampaign implosionsof the retiring century , starting with the account of a veteran politico undone by a Plectrophenax nivalis .
5: Edmund Muskie’s Snowflake Problem
By all accounts , Ed Muskie was prize presidential textile . Standing at 6 foot , 4 column inch ( 1.93 meters ) , the " Lincolnesque " senator and former regulator of Maine had earn a reputation as one of the most intelligent and influential Democrats in Congress [ source : PBS NewsHour ] . In 1968 , Muskie run as thevice presidential candidateon Hubert Humphrey ’s suffer ticket . By the 1972 Democratic primaries , Muskie was considered the frontrunner and the best promise for kill officeholder Richard Nixon .
But that was before New Hampshire . A man named William Loeb was the publishing house of an highly button-down New Hampshire newsprint called the Manchester Union Leader . Loeb was notable for his provocative front - pageboy editorials attacking his political foes . In the calendar week leading up to the New Hampshire primary coil , Loeb published an editorial called " Moscow Muskie " that questioned the candidate ’s patriotism . But it was a second newspaper column target Muskie ’s married woman that sent the ordinarily reserve candidate over the brink [ germ : PBS NewsHour ] .
On a frigid New Hampshire morning , Muskie led a group of staffers and newsman to the step of the Manchester Union Leader offices to denounce the libelous personal onset made by the report . As snow began to fall , Muskie called Loeb a " gutless coward " who was " fortunate [ that he ’s ] not on this platform beside me . " What happens next is a point of diachronic disputation . reporter at the fit say that Muskie choked up and wept wordlessly when coming to the defense of his wife . Muskie ’s staff claimed that it was just snow run on his cheek . A photo of Muskie ’s contorted brass accompanied newspaper headlines across the country . The campaigner ’s crying became the story , not the newsprint ’s attack .
Muskie still won the New Hampshire primary coil by a margin of 46 percent to George McGovern ’s 37 percent , but the number were much abject than expect [ source : Broder ] . The damage had been done . Muskie ’s opponents vomit up him as a weakling and a crybaby . It would afterwards be revealed that the source for Loeb ’s " Moscow Muskie " newspaper column was a missive forged by a member of Nixon ’s white house staff [ source : Broder ] .
Do n’t cry for Muskie , though . He abandoned his presidential inhalation , but went on to serve as Secretary of State in 1980 , successfully negotiating the handout of the American hostages held in Iran [ source : PBS NewsHour ] .
4: Hart’s ‘Monkey Business’
" I know I ’m blend to be President of the United States . " Those were Gary Hart ’s positive words in the other days of the 1984 Democratic primaries [ source : Hanlon ] . While the ruggedly fine-looking Colorado governor — get it on as " Camelot in cowboy boots " — made a firm and surprising other display , he would finally lose the nomination to Walter Mondale , partly due to two blips in his backstory : That he was bear Gary Hartpence ; and that he was a year sr. than advertised . Also , Mondale crushed Hart in a primary debate with the dad - finish zinger : " When I get word your new musical theme , I ’m remind of that advertising , ' Where ’s the beef ? ' "
But 1988 was a new class and a new race for theWhite House , one in which Hart was wide considered the Democratic frontrunner . That was before another trace from his personal lifespan threaten to eclipse his weapons platform of " new approximation . " Like his political paragon , John F. Kennedy , the get married - and - make love - it Hart had a tragic impuissance for beautiful women . Rumors of Hart ’s infidelities trace back to his years as the young and cheeky campaign manager for George McGovern , during which he became close friends with the ill-famed Hollywood Corinthian Warren Beatty [ source : Dionne ] .
When womanizing charge surfaced in the 1988 race , Hart not only denied the claims , but openly dared the jam to stick to him around [ source : Blake ] . Bad move , Mr. Hartpence . The Miami Herald put a team of newsman on Hart ’s rump , culminating in a negative serial publication of article detailing the 52 - class - old candidate ’s dalliance with a 29 - year - honest-to-god model and actress named Donna Rice [ reservoir : Dionne ] . Both Hart and Rice vehemently denied that the relationship was sexual , but a undivided photo effectively killed the campaign : the blonde and beautiful Rice sit on Hart ’s knee as they prepared to board a private Caribbean racing yacht called " Monkey Business . " Yes , the gravy holder was called " Monkey Business . " Hart ’s second presidential run was over a month after it began .
3: Dewey Defeats Himself
It ’s the most illustrious – and notorious – newspaper headline in American chronicle : " Dewey Defeats Truman . " On the eve of the 1948 presidential election , every majorpolitical pollpredicted a landslide victory for Thomas Dewey , the Republican governor of New York , against the unpopular incumbent , Harry Truman . Truman ’s popular party had been beat in the 1946 midterm elections , saddling the new chairman – Truman assumed the business office in 1945 after the sudden demise of Franklin D. Roosevelt – with an opposition - result " do nothing " Congress [ root : Miller Center ] . The Democrats also brook a blow during the popular primaries , when Strom Thurmond and the " Dixiecrats " stick out ship to constitute their own party .
All of the momentum was in the Republican ’s camp , and Dewey knew it . The nominee had run in 1944 and narrowly turn a loss to a much more redoubtable enemy in FDR . ( Some blame his creative thinker - bending hunting expedition slogan : " Dewey or Do n’t We . " Nope , no question mark . ) With the political malarkey in his favour , Dewey chose to take a prudent tack . While Truman crisscrossed the country on " whistling - block " train tour of duty , prophesy New Deal policies and boldcivil rightsreforms , Dewey stuck to bland , non - boat - rocking generalities [ source : Miller Center ] . As a result , Dewey developed a reputation as the dull man in the elbow room , but the polls still had him go by a wide margin with only weeks left until election day .
Looking back on their fault , the dependable folks at Gallup found several flaws in their polling methods . For newbie , they stopped polling three weeks before the election . And more significantly , they polled a representative ( not random ) sample of Americans of vote geezerhood , but not needfully Americans who were most likely to vote . Truman ’s hardworking cause attempt brought out a unassailable wedlock vote , while the overconfident Republican fundament " played golf game that day " [ source : Jones ] .
Predicted to lose by five to 15 points , Truman advance by 4.4 percent of the vote . On a train ride back to Washington D.C. two sidereal day later , a staffer get an early edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune under a seat . In the far-famed word-painting of the infamously wrong headline , Truman ’s impish grin enounce it all : Dewey blew it .
2: Rick Perry’s Brain Freeze
Rick Perry was supposed to spare the Republican Party in 2012 . When he enter the presidential race in August 2011 , theTexas governorwas the only candidate to nail the conservative trifecta : Legitimate Tea Party rank ; vocal and heartfelt Christian trust ; and a minor - government , anti - Washington political program [ source : Parker ] . When Perry finally throw his ten - gallon hat into the closed chain after months of playing it coy , he leapt to the top of the poll , at one time require 40 per centum of canvas Republican voters [ rootage : Rachman ] .
Perry had the conservative credentials , the Texas drawl and the spectacular fuzz of solid Republican prospect , but he register his Achilles ' heel ahead of time : debating . In the very first Republican primary debate , Perry ’s rivals ganged up on the democratic new hombre and Perry seemed ill - disposed for the challenge , stumbling often over his words . In the ensue weeks , Perry and his team worked hard to remove the " regretful arguer " brand name from his longhorn hide . But then came the debate on November 9 , 2011 , and its infamous " oops " mo .
Perry was a minute into a longwinded comment on somebody else ’s longwinded comment about political divisiveness , when he suddenly turned to Ron Paul and held up three finger . " It ’s three agencies of government that when I get there are gone , " Perry predict in his Yoda - esque delivery . " Commerce , instruction , and … [ abominable suspension ] what ’s the third one there ? " Even after his helpful new " friends " on the stage offered proffer — maybe theEPA , Ricky ? — Perry just looked down at his empty rostrum and muttered , " I ca n’t … the third , sorry . Oops ! "
Perry ’s " oops " time went instantly viral , have some viewers and political commentator to not only question Perry cerebral seaworthiness for the office of the president , but whether or not he was on drug [ source : Fikac ] . So much for frontrunner status . Perry suspend his campaign after welcome 0.7 percent of the master vote in New Hampshire [ rootage : Blake ] . For the record , the third agency he promise to kill was the Department of Energy .
1: The Dean Scream
Howard Dean was the net ’s first presidential favorite . The unpolished , straight - talk former governor of Vermont used a strong online presence to recruit horde of young " Deaniacs " who were expected to prompt the Democratic candidate to the top of the ticket in 2004 . Young , liberal elector were guide to Dean by his off - the - turnup , unscripted attacks on both the Republican President George W. Bush and centrist members of Dean ’s own company [ source : Kuhn ] .
In the end , it was Dean ’s most admired qualities – his boldness , dullness and distaste for scripted stump speech – that head to his untying . Despite weighty endorsement by former presidential nominee Al Gore and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin , Dean send a unsatisfying third in the Iowa Caucuses , an early gauge of primary campaign metier . When Dean took the point in Iowa to rally his sunken supporters , his emotion get the better of him . The result is one of the most - played political fails on YouTube : the Dean scream .
From on - the - conniption reports , we fuck that the room was whipped into a fury when Dean took the stage . The magnanimous , flag - wave gang was raucous and very flash , but none of that come through in the sound recording on the television clip [ source : Salzman ] . All we find out is what comes out of Dean ’s intimately held microphone . As Dean attain the climax of his words , he start rattling off the names of the other primary Department of State where his campaign will do victorious conflict , lead all the fashion to reclaiming the White House .
Again , reporters on the scene tell us that the great unwashed in the bunch were yelling out names of primary states , which explains why the picture clip shows Dean pointing menacingly at different floater in the crowd as he list the body politic name [ seed : Salzman ] . What can never be fully explained is the exclamatory noise Dean make at the very end . It ’s somewhere between a cattleman ’s " yee - hah ! " an evil genius ' " bww - ahhh " and a mongoose being run over by a vacancy cleansing agent . Whatever it was , the crew seemed to get it on it , as did the 24 - hour cable news wheel and every previous night horde from Dave Letterman to whoever is the Dave Letterman of Albania .
The scream made Dean looking brainsick , and the run lacked the appropriate legal injury mastery mechanisms to make a full recovery [ source : Salzman ] . Dean finish up secondly in New Hampshire , but never gained back the momentum that fertilise his early popularity . He bowed out of the race in February .
Lots More Information
As I register about the noted flops of presidential candidates , I ca n’t help but wonder how I would fair under the microscopic scrutiny of the massively mass medium . My guess ? ill to very ill . And what about our political hero of the past : the Lincolns and Kennedys and Reagans ? How would they handle the soundbite culture drowned out by the noise of endless comment from the blogosphere and savant - verse ? Do n’t you recollect Lincoln made a few odd remark during those Lincoln - Douglas debates that did n’t make it into mark ? And do n’t even get me started on Kennedy ’s personal indiscretions . The examination of modern presidential candidate is brutal , but I would also argue , necessary . We merit a United States President who is cool and , preferably , impudent under pressure ; someone who can stand up to tyrant and serve the people ’s best interest ; and possibly even someone who can refuse picking his or her nose on live TV .
