said something daffy—like, in Buffalo, that “approximately 80 percent of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let’s not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources”—Carter could not hit back without it confirming his “meanness” to the press. Reagan’s handlers, just to make sure, worked even harder to protect him from himself. After the LSU speech, a scrum of reporters
