The Telegraph (Nashua) - 1980 Presidential Primary Debate

1980 Presidential Primary Debate

The paper received national attention during the 1980 New Hampshire presidential primary, when it hosted a Republican debate paid for by the campaign of former California Governor Ronald Reagan. During a discussion over which candidates should be allowed to participate, Telegraph editor Jon Breen, acting as moderator, told the soundman to turn off Reagan's microphone. Reagan's response of "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green," was wildly applauded by the audience and even his fellow Republican primary opponents, none of whom noted that he got the moderator's name wrong. The phrase entered the political lexicon and, some say, helped launch Reagan's successful run for the presidency.

Reagan later recounted the incident as a "brief and seemingly small event, one lasting only a few seconds," that he said he thought, "helped take me to the White House." He continues:

When the Nashua Telegraph offered to sponsor a debate between the two of us on the Saturday evening preceding the election, we both accepted. Understandably, this brought howls from the other candidates. In protest, one of them, Senator Bob Dole, complained to the Federal Elections Commission that by financing a debate between only two of the seven candidates, the newspaper was making an illegal campaign contribution to the Bush and Reagan campaigns. The commission agreed with him, so my campaign offered to pay the full cost of the debate - a few thousand dollars - and they accepted. I thought it had been unfair to exclude the other candidates from the debate.

After arriving at the debate, he found two chairs - one each for Bush and Reagan. The other candidates were confused, as was the audience.

I decided I should explain to the crowd what the delay was all about and started to speak. As I did, an editor of the Nashua newspaper shouted to the sound man, "Turn Mr. Reagan's microphone off." Well, I didn't like that - we were paying the freight for the debate and he was acting as if his newspaper was still sponsoring it. I turned to him, with the microphone still on, and said the first thing that came to my mind: "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green." (sic) Well, for some reason my words hit the audience, whose emotions were already worked up, like a sledgehammer. The crowd roared and just went wild. I may have won the debate, the primary - and the nomination - right there.