Senate Guru: Risch Misquotes Reagan

The historically inaccurate quote of the day comes from Republican Senate candidate Jim Risch:

“You know what Ronald Reagan said? Numbers are stubborn things,” Risch said.

No, Jim, Ronald Reagan didn’t say that. Reagan said something else - and what he said, he wasn’t trying to say. What he was trying to say was a quote from our second President, John Adams:

John Adams, our second president, famously said: “Facts are stubborn things.” In a 1988 slip of the tongue, Ronald Reagan said: “Facts are stupid things.”

See: Gigantic Wednesday night rundown /Senate Guru

Question: Are missteps and “misquotes” by politicians anything more than good fodder for chuckles. Or do they negatively affect their campaigns?