let's go to bob lictor from fairfax. bob. >> i'm tempted to ask whether michael dukakis would have responded lie gingrich, would he have had a better chance at becoming president? >> let's ask the question. what do you think? >> i'm sorry. >> i think that's an interesting question, bob. and your response will be more educated than-mile-per-hour. but you know what the speaker shows that was missing from goveor

. >> back to bob lictor at george mason university. bob, first of all, your thoughts? you have seen this debate moment in the past. and you have probably written about it as well. >> well, i'm uncomfortably near the issue of senior moments in my life, but you can see there a candidate who made a mistake, had a brain freeze, and didn't know how to cope with it. that was an interesting thing. other candidates have been able to slide over this kind of problem, where as he clearly didn't have the experience of trying to think on his feet in this sort of high-pressure situation. and i think it wasn't simply his failure to remember that third one. everybody has to sympathize with that, but hisesh cruciating inability to cope with the fact that he had forgotten that one. you have to believe someone like a ronald reagan or a jack kennedy would have come up with a quip to get himself out of that. but with that, we go to ray. >> i was actually going to ask a question similar to the last one about the debates. at first, i was going to ask how would you characterize the influence