1980: Emissaries of Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan allegedly work behind the scenes with Iran to derail Democrat Jimmy Carter’s negotiations to free US hostages held in that country. 1992 investigations by the House and Senate assert there was no conspiracy, but fail to grapple with key information.
1992: Republican defense secretary Caspar Weinberger is indicted on Iran-Contra conspiracy charges four days before the presidential election. Republican George H.W. Bush is subsequently unseated by Democrat Bill Clinton.
1994: Facing a tough challenge from then-Republican Senate candidate Mitt Romney, Ted Kennedy says his opponent should be asked about the LDS Church’s past exclusion of black men from its priesthood. Kennedy later recants; Romney loses.
2000: Revelation (by FOX News!) that George W. Bush was once arrested for drunk driving tests the GOP’s crisis-management mettle. Bush wins anyway.
2003: Just before a vote on the proposed recall of California Governor Gray Davis, a Democrat, the Los Angeles Times reports on Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger’s alleged history of aggressive, inappropriate womanizing. Arnold still wins.
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