While Ford cut two of the man's fingers nearly off, the man's wife was assaulted as she tried to call 911.
Ford had already cut into Carter's large lead in the polls, and was generally viewed as having won the first debate on domestic policy.
Ford did not cut its dividend this time, but a top company official said it might do so in the future.
It was the second time in two and a half months that Ford cut its earnings projections for the year.
Ford cut its North American production 23 percent from the period a year ago.
Ford and Chrysler had already cut their much more optimistic estimates several times to reach similar levels.
When Ford cut back, he took a job in the maintenance department of the schools.
Ford, which lost nearly $1.5 billion during the first six months of 2006, cut its dividend in half last month.
From a peak of 5,400 workers at the end of the 1970's, Ford cut back to about 3,000 during the last recession.
In 1990, Ford announced that this payment would be $1,600 but then cut the amount to $1,000 because of sagging sales.