1980 United States presidential debates
The 1980 United States presidential debates were a series of debates held during the 1980 presidential election.
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1980 United States vice presidential debate | |||||||||||||||||
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The League of Women Voters sponsored two presidential debates: the first on September 21, and the second on October 28. The second presidential debate is the second most-watched debate in American history. Republican nominee Ronald Reagan participated in both debates. Independent candidate John B. Anderson only participated in the first presidential debate, while Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter only participated in the second presidential debate.
No vice presidential debate was held in 1980. Anderson's running mate Patrick Lucey was the only one who agreed to participate, while Carter's running mate Walter Mondale and Reagan's running mate George H. W. Bush both refused.
League of Women Voters-sponsored debates
editNegotiations
editThe tentative schedule for the debates, reported in August 1980, was as follows:[1]
- September 18, in Baltimore, Maryland
- October 2, in Louisville, Kentucky (Vice Presidential debate)
- October 13, in Portland, Oregon
- October 27, in Cleveland, Ohio
The 1980 election featured a major third-party candidate, John B. Anderson. The League of Women Voters allowed for Anderson to participate in the debate if he polled above 15%.[2]
The Carter campaign, believing that a three-way debate between Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Anderson, would boost Anderson's campaign, tried to push for an earlier debate only featuring Carter and Reagan.[2] This plan was supported by the chairs of the Democratic and Republican National Committee.[3] The two-person debate did not materialize, and Carter declined to debate alongside Anderson.[4]
The vice presidential debate was canceled on September 29, days before it was scheduled to be held. George H. W. Bush and Walter Mondale refused to attend, leaving only Anderson's running mate Patrick Lucey accepting the invitation.[5]
Debate schedule
edit| 1980 United States presidential election debates | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Date and time | Host | Location | Moderator | Participants | |||||||||||
| Key: P Participant N Non-invitee A Absent invitee |
Democratic | Republican | Independent | |||||||||||||
| President Jimmy Carter of Georgia |
Governor Ronald Reagan of California |
Congressman John B. Anderson of Illinois | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Sunday, September 21, 1980
10:00 – 11:00 p.m. EDT[6] |
Baltimore Convention Center | Baltimore, Maryland | Bill Moyers of PBS | A | P | P | |||||||||
| 2 | Tuesday, October 28, 1980
9:30 – 11:00 p.m. EST[6] |
Music Hall | Cleveland, Ohio | Howard K. Smith of ABC | P | P | N | |||||||||
| 1980 United States vice presidential debate | ||||||||||||||||
| No. | Date and time | Host | Location | Moderator | Participants | |||||||||||
| Democratic | Republican | Independent | ||||||||||||||
| Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota |
Director George H. W. Bush of Texas |
Ambassador Patrick Lucey of Wisconsin | ||||||||||||||
| Canceled | ||||||||||||||||
September 21: First presidential debate (Baltimore Convention Center)
edit| First presidential debate | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | September 21, 1980 |
| Duration | 60 minutes |
| Venue | Baltimore Convention Center |
| Location | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Participants | John B. Anderson Ronald Reagan |
| Moderator(s) | Bill Moyers of PBS |
The first presidential debate took place on Sunday, September 21, 1980, at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland. The three invitees were Carter, Anderson and Reagan, though Carter refused to attend due to the presence of Anderson.[8][9]
Following a strong performance by Reagan, Anderson's poll numbers began to drop. Consequently, Anderson would not be invited to the second debate.[8]
Format
editThe debate started at 10:00 p.m. EDT, and lasted for one hour.[10] Anderson and Reagan both received six questions.[11] They were given two and a half minutes to answer each question, as well as one minute and 15 seconds to rebut. Closing statements could be as long as three minutes.[10]
October 28: Second presidential debate (Music Hall)
edit| Second presidential debate | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date(s) | October 28, 1980 |
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Venue | Music Hall |
| Location | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Participants | Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan |
| Moderator(s) | Howard K. Smith of ABC |
The second presidential debate took place on Tuesday, October 28, 1980, at the Music Hall in Cleveland, Ohio.[8] Carter and Reagan were the only invitees.[8] Reagan's most notable moments include using the phrase "There you go again" and asking whether or not Americans were better off than they were four years ago.[8] CNN attempted to include Anderson from the Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. CNN's Daniel Schorr read the same questions to Anderson. They then aired Anderson's live responses along with tape delay of Carter and Reagan's responses,[12][13] despite technical difficulties.[14]
Format
editThe second presidential debate started at 9:30 p.m. EST, and lasted for 90 minutes.[10] The debate consisted of two halves, and panelists were only allowed to offer follow-ups in the first half. Candidates Carter and Reagan both received the same 12 questions[15] and the ability to rebut twice for one minute each.[10]
Viewership
editAccording to Nielsen Media Research, the debate garnered 80.6 million viewers.[10][16] It was the most-watched debate in American history until the first presidential debate of 2016.[17]
Reaction
editAn unscientific televote poll carried out by ABC immediately after the debate received about 650,000 responses, two thirds in favor of Reagan.[18][19]
Aftermath
editIn 1983, Reagan's campaign came under fire for having access to Carter's internal debate briefing materials.[20]
Other debates
editA minor party debate was held by the New York Committee for Marxist Education on October 9. The debate was moderated by Bill Henning, and attended by representatives of the Communist Party USA, Socialist Workers Party, Socialist Party USA, Citizens Party, and Workers World Party. The only candidate to attend in person was Workers World's Deirdre Griswold.[21]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Bitzer, Lloyd F.; Rueter, Theodore (August 24, 1980). "The 1980 Debates". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ a b "Presidential Debate Plan Appears to Be in Jeopardy". The New York Times. Associated Press. August 24, 1980. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ Clymer, Adam (August 25, 2020). "G.O.P Joins Carter Plea for Debate Without Anderson; League's Plans in Doubt Important to Anderson". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ Smith, Hedrick (September 10, 1980). "Carter Declines to Debate After Anderson Is Invited". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ "Voters League Cancels Vice-Presidential Debate". The New York Times. September 30, 1980. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ a b "CPD: 1980 Debates". www.debates.org. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
- ^ "League sends debate tickets as souvenirs". The Courier-Journal. October 29, 1980. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "1980 Presidential Debates". CNN. 1996. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
- ^ "Carter Bars Debate With Anderson". The Washington Post. May 28, 1980. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "1980 Debates". Commission on Presidential Debates. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ^ "September 21, 1980 Debate Transcript". Commission on Presidential Debates. September 21, 1980. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ^ Shipp, Randy (October 27, 1980). "Anderson to debate, too, via cable-TV network". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
- ^ Weaver Jr., Warren (October 29, 1980). "A CARTER 'FLIP-FLOP' IS SEEN BY ANDERSON; Responding to 2 Debaters' Views, He Says on Cable TV That Tax Cuts Are 'Irresponsible' Carter's Earlier Position Repeating Charges of Past Service in World War II". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
- ^ Schroeder, Alan (June 2016). Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail. Columbia University Press. p. 263. ISBN 978-0-231-54150-3.
- ^ "October 28, 1980 Debate Transcript". Commission on Presidential Debates. October 28, 1980. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ^ "Highest Rated Presidential Debates 1960 To Present". Nielsen. October 6, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ^ Kennedy, Merrit (September 27, 2016). "Clinton-Trump Showdown Was The Most-Watched Presidential Debate Ever". NPR. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ^ O'Connor, John J. (October 30, 1980). "TV: Instant Poll Steals Post-Debate Scene". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ Lanoue, Daniel J. (1992). "One That Made a Difference: Cognitive Consistency, Political Knowledge, and the 1980 Presidential Debate". Public Opinion Quarterly. 56 (2): 168–184. doi:10.1086/269309. JSTOR 2749168. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ Kondracke, Morton (July 17, 1983). "Debategate". The New Republic. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ^ Dionne Jr., E. J. (October 12, 1980). "5 Parties of the Left Conduct a Presidential Debate". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2020.