1976 Mondale-Dole

A stumbling Ford had dumped Nelson Rockefeller, king of the northeast liberal wing of the Republican Party, from his ticket and replaced him with Kansas conservative Bob Dole. In the debate Dole, facing fellow senator Mondale, dropped the ball. He complained about "Democrat Wars" of the 20th century, an odd blunder for a WWII veteran. Blaming as they did Hitler and the Germans for WWII instead of FDR and the Democrats, voters turned up their noses. In a very tight race to that point, Dole's clumsy performance possibly put the finishing touches on Carter's victory.