President Carter campaigned across the Northeast Wednesday, charging Ronald Reagan misrepresented his own record during the presidential debate, while Reagan said in Texas he 'wouldn't be caught dead' with Carter's record.
Both presidential candidates, opening non-stop campaign swings, campaigned like they had won the Tuesday night debate, while polls and experts disagreed on who won the sometimes bitter battle of Cleveland.
In Newark, N.J., a congregation of black ministers roared their disapproval when Carter reminded them that Reagan had said during the debate that when he was young the country didn't know it had a racial problem.
'Governor Reagan may not know it but to millions and millions of Americans whosuffered racial injustice for 300 years, it was not simply a problem, it was a lifelong disaster,' Carter said.
Reagan, campaigning across Texas, ridiculed a Carter-Mondale campaign brochure which boasted of the administration's unmatched record. 'No president would want to match it,' Reagan cracked. 'I wouldn't be caught dead with it.'
And the man who wasn't in Cleveland, independent contender John Anderson, was in Philadelphia saying the debate was a draw _ 'a shallow performance' in which only partisan loyalities were frozen in place.
A CBS News poll showed, meanwhile, that more Americans thought Reagan 'won' the debate than Carter, with 44 percent saying Reagan won, 36 percent saying Carter and 14 debate calling it a tie.
The poll, with a 4 percent margin of error, showed the presidential race to be a dead heat _ 42 percent for Carter, 39 percent for Reagan and 8 percent for Anderson _ no real change from its last poll.
CBS said 90 percent of those polled said the debate had not changed their minds, and 6 percent said it did. But among the previously undecided, 12 percent moved to Reagan after the debate while only 6 percent moved to Carter.
And the man who wasn't in Cleveland, independent contender John Anderson, was in Philadelphia saying the debate was a draw _ 'a shallow performance' in which only partisan loyalities were frozen in place.
A CBS News poll showed, meanwhile, that more Americans thought Reagan 'won' the debate than Carter, with 44 percent saying Reagan won, 36 percent saying Carter and 14 debate calling it a tie.
The poll, with a 4 percent margin of error, showed the presidential race to be a dead heat _ 42 percent for Carter, 39 percent for Reagan and 8 percent for Anderson _ no real change from its last poll.
CBS said 90 percent of those polled said the debate had not changed their minds, and 6 percent said it did. But among the previously undecided, 12 percent moved to Reagan after the debate while only 6 percent moved to Carter.
Among the polls and experts there was no consensus _ only controversy over an unscientific ABC telephone call in poll which gave a 2 to 1 edge to Reagan.
The poll drew wide criticism because it was skewed to Reagan's West Coast stronghold because the debate was broadcast so late in the east, because it cost 50 cents to make the telephone call and because there was no limit on the number of calls that could be made.
Eight of 11 debate experts contacted by UPI said Carter won based on forensic standards of evidence, refuting an opponent's argument and overall performance.
It was an obviously invigorated and motivated Carter who stumped in Philadelphia, unwilling to let slip what he thought were Reagan's debate mistakes. Reagan said in the debate that he had never said 'It's none of our business,' when asked about the danger of the proliferation of nuclear weapons to countries like Libya, Iraq, Pakistan and South Africa.
But Carter said his aides checked and found Reagan made that statement in an Feb. 1 interview with The New York Times.
'Every American ought to stop and think what will happen to this world if we have no control over nuclear weapons,' Carter said. 'For people who care about controlling terrorism, that is the ultimate terrorist weapon.'
Carter also said Reagan made an error in discussing Social Security when he said young people today are paying in far more than they can ever expect to get out.
'This is exactly contrary to the facts,' he said.
Carter, who had virtually written off most of the west to Reagan, changed his mind and scheduled a final West Coast campaign trip for Monday after new polls showed him close or leading narrowly in Washington and Oregon and narrowing the gap in California.
Campaigning for Texas' 26 electoral votes at a rally of 10,000 people in Houston, Reagan rejected the Carter administration's promise of an 'economic renaissance.'
'They're leading us into an economic dark ages,' Reagan said.
Reagan was in a chipper mood and his message was upbeat as he campaigned in Houston on a swing that took him later to Fort Worth and Dallas, the largest population centers in a pivotal state for both candidates.
Reagan said he was glad to highlight in the debate what he said were the economic and foreign policy failures of the adminstration. He charged that Carter 'refused to defend his record ... He couldn't defend it, so he just changed the subject.'
Reagan will spend considerable time in Carter's southern homeland as polls show him ahead in Texas and Florida, and capable of picking up Louisiana and Mississippi as well.
