February 26, 1980: New Hampshire Saves Ronald Reagan

"I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green!"

February 26, 1980: New Hampshire holds its quadrennial 1st-in-the-nation Presidential Primary. On the Democratic Party's side, the incumbent President, Jimmy Carter, wins 49 percent of the vote, to the 38 percent won by Senator Ted Kennedy.

Given the Iran Hostage Crisis, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the backlash against the boycott of the upcoming Olympics in Moscow, the slumping economy, the magic that the Kennedy name still had for millions of people, and the fact that coming from next-door Massachusetts meant that New Hampshire voters were very familiar with Ted's Senate record, it was widely expected that Ted might seriously challenge the President.

But questions about Kennedy's personal life, and perhaps a spillover of patriotism from the American victory over the Soviet Union in the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, pushed Carter to a solid victory -- though not a majority. Kennedy would win a few Primaries, but his chance at winning the nomination was over, and he never came so close to becoming President like his brother John again.

On the Republican Party's side, the favorite going in was George H.W. Bush. His resume including serving Texas in Congress, and serving as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Director of the CIA, he had just won the Iowa Caucuses. He claimed a great deal of momentum, or, as he called it, "The Big Mo."

Ronald Reagan, former actor and former Governor of California, had seriously challenged President Gerald Ford in 1976, but fell short of winning the nomination. Now, he was 69 years old -- at the time, considered old to be running for President -- and it seemed as though the time for him, and for his archconservative message, had come and gone.

The Nashua Telegraph newspaper offered to host a debate between Reagan and Bush, in the auditorium at Nashua High School. Worried that a newspaper-sponsored debate might violate electoral regulations, Reagan subsequently arranged to fund the event with his own campaign money, inviting the other candidates, regardless of how low they were polling, to participate at short notice.

The Bush camp did not learn of Reagan's decision to include the other candidates until the debate was due to commence. Bush refused to participate, which led to an impasse on the stage.

As Reagan attempted to explain his decision, Jon Breen, the editor of the Telegraph and the debate's moderator, ordered a technician to mute Reagan's microphone. When the technician refused, Breen repeated his order. A visibly angry Reagan responded, "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green!" The audience, not noticing that Reagan had gotten the man's name wrong, cheered wildly. Eventually, the other candidates agreed to leave, and the debate proceeded between Reagan and Bush.

Having seen Reagan stand up for himself, and having seen Bush act petulantly, the  Republican voters of New Hampshire decided they had seen what they needed to see. Reagan won a majority, 50.2 percent. Bush won just 23 percent.

Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee, the Senate Minority Leader, won 13 percent. Representative John Anderson of Illinois won 10 percent. Trailing far behind were Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, the Party's 1976 Vice Presidential nominee; former Governor John Connally of Texas, who had previously been a Democrat; and Representative Phil Crane of Illinois.

Reagan won all 10 Counties, and 213 out of the 239 towns and cities in the Granite State. Bush won 24, and Baker won 2.

Reagan had become the frontrunner, and remained so going into the South Carolina Primary. New Hampshire had turned him from a man about to see his political career come to an end into a plausible President once again. New Hampshire had saved him.

Lee Bandy, a writer for the South Carolina newspaper The State, disagreed, saying that it was South Carolina that saved him. He stated that, heading into that Primary, political operative Lee Atwater worked to engineer a victory for Reagan: "Lee Atwater figured that Connally was their biggest threat here in South Carolina. So Lee leaked a story to me that John Connally was trying to buy the black vote. Well, that story got out, thanks to me, and it probably killed Connally. He spent $10 million for one delegate. Lee saved Ronald Reagan's candidacy."

Atwater may have ruined Connally in 1980, but Connally was already no threat. From New Hampshire onward, it was going to be either Reagan or Bush.

Reagan went on to win the nomination, took Bush as his running mate, and won the election. After being re-elected in 1984, Bush ran on his own in 1988. His candidacy would be saved by Atwater, through disgustingly racist tactics. But what saved Ronald Reagan in 1980 was a tough-guy act in New Hampshire.

The microphone is so much a part of the Reagan myth, it was preserved, and is on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

*

February 26, 1980 was a Tuesday. Baseball and football were out of season. There was 8 games played in the NBA:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 108-97 at the Boston Garden.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz, 105-85 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the San Diego Clippers, 122-88 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns, 121-112 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Kansas City Kings beat the Golden State Warriors, 117-99 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Indiana Pacers, 93-88 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 131-108 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 98-96 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

And there were 5 games played in the NHL:

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Hartford Whalers, 9-5 at the Colisée de Québec. Brothers Réal Cloutier and Roland Cloutier each scored for the Nords. For the Whalers, Gordie Howe, age 51, and his son Mark Howe each had an assist. 

* The Washington Capitals beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Montreal Canadiens and the Atlanta Flames played to a tie, 3-3 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-4 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at the St. Louis Arena -- or the Checkerdome, as it was known during the team's ownership by St. Louis-based Ralston Purina, with their "Checkerboard Square" logo.