There you go again
"There you go again" was a phrase spoken during the second presidential debate of 1980 by Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan to his Democratic opponent, incumbent President Jimmy Carter. Reagan would use the line in a few debates over the years, always in a way intended to disarm his opponent.
"There you go again" emerged as a defining phrase of the 1980 presidential election. The phrase has endured in the political lexicon in news headlines, as a way to quickly imply that an opponent is engaged in hyperbole or even hysterical comments.Context
The second debate between Reagan and Carter of the 1980 presidential election year was held a week before Election Day by the League of Women Voters. At one point, Carter went on the offensive against Reagan's record regarding Medicare.
An Associated Press article from 2008 stated:
Reagan was a master at capturing a debate moment that everyone will remember. His 'there you go again' line defused his opponent's attack.
Later use
Reagan sometimes used the phrase during his presidential press conferences.
In the 2008 vice presidential debate, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin used the line on her Democratic opponent Joe Biden.
During the 2012 presidential election, former President Bill Clinton paraphrased the line after criticizing the policies of the Republican platform by saying, "There they go again."
In the 2016 vice presidential debate, Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence used the line "There they go again" in responding to Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine's statement that Pence was a "chief cheerleader for the privatization of social security."
