Murphy's Laws

Mike Murphy has a funny piece in Time on debate prep. (H/t Weekly Standard's Matthew Continetti)

My favorite bit:

Finally, the savvy viewer should remember that any moment that looks too perfect to be true probably isn't. I once worked on a campaign in which we made a big show of opening our secret debate-prep session to reporters. The highlight was the part when the candidate dramatically rejected the lame, scripted debate answers we staffers had offered up, vowing instead to just tell it like it was. We were very proud of our candidate; that was precisely the bit we had carefully rehearsed.

Bonus links (compiled by Time, not me):

Galllery of campaign gaffes here
10 Memorable Debate Moments
Top 10 campaign ads in U.S. political history here