One of the strangest yearly rituals in colliegate debate was the tournament banquet at the Liberty University tournament. At each fall's banquate Dr. Fallwell would spend a few minutes talking about his political experiences and then open himself up for an extended question and answer session with the gruop of overwhelmingly liberal college students. The questions were often outlandish but Jerry was never short, never rude, and he always had a joke in hand to lighten up any topic. His speaking ability included some magical tap-dancing skills that he often used to shift his answer away from the question at hand and into a familiar territory. One year I taped his questions and answer session and analyzed his "answer shifting" technique for a socio-linguistics class. But the most memorable encounter came when Liberty hosted the NDT in 2007. Tournament meals were held in the LU dining hall where an enterprising worker had hung a sign beside the bagel bin assuring diners that despite being a "Jewish" food the bagel provided had been prepared in a "Christian" kitchen. A Jewish teammate took exception to the sign and when Q & A time rolled around he used the opportunity to ask about the sign. Rather than defend the sign Fallwell immeadiately said it was innappropriate, that he didn't know about it, and that my teammate had his permission to remove it (our coach promptly took the sign from the wall and returned later during the Q&A with the sign as a trophy).
Love him or hate him, Fallwell was an outspoken advocate for mixing morality with politics. You have to wonder if his demise will make it easy for a moderate Republican to find acceptance on the Republican ticket in the next Presential elections.