Ferraro handled a question about her experience at the debate, after being asked how her three House terms stacked up with Bush's two House terms, career as an ambassador to China and the United Nations, Director of Central Intelligence and four years as Vice President. The peak of the experience battle came when, during a discussion of the Carter administration in Iran and the Reagan administration in Lebanon, Bush said, "Let me help you with the difference, Mrs. Ferraro, between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon." Ferraro responded to cap what The New York Times termed "a bristling exchange", "Let me just say first of all, that I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy."
Views on abortion
As a Roman Catholic, Ferraro came under fire from the Roman Catholic Church for favoring abortion rights, a position in conflict with Catholic moral doctrine. She strongly defended her position at the debate, which earned her audience applause and a respectful reply from her opponent. Bush was attacked for his change in views since 1980, his transition to an anti-abortion position.
Central America
Ferraro said, "We're not moving toward a more secure area of the world," in regards to Nicaragua and El Salvador, stating that both Sandinista soldiers levels and Soviet and Cuban advisors levels had increased during the Reagan years. She also criticized the mining of the harbors in Nicaragua as a violation of international law.
When Ferraro criticized Reagan's actions of refusing to support, and later signing, the Voting Rights Act the moderator, Sander Vancour, cut her off in order to ask the enthusiastically applauding audience to calm down.
Aftermath
The result was proclaimed mostly even by newspapers, television, other media, and historians. Women voters tended to think Ferraro had won, while men, Bush. Some media, however, either declared Bush or Ferraro the winner. The candidates were both praised for their ability to debate. During a campaign event the next day, an open microphone caught Bush bragging that "we tried to kick a little ass last night" in the debate. That remark itself became a campaign issue with Ferraro's camp considering it inappropriate and demanding an apology while the Bush team dismissed it as an expression familiar to those having played sports in the state of Texas.
