Background The 6th and final Republican primary debate of 1980 was held in Texas prior to the all-important primary there. The day before the debate, Bush had won the Pennsylvania primary by eight percentage points. Bush's victory was the result of three important factors. First, with Rep. John B. Anderson out of the race, the 12% of Pennsylvania Republicans who had supported him split for Bush by a 3:1 margin [NYT 4/23/1980]. Second, Bush emphasized that he was a moderate Republican in Pennsylvania; exit polls showed that this was a major influence on voters [NYT 4/23]. Third, Reagan was quickly approaching the statutory limit on primary campaign spending [NYT 4/24]. This meant that the Reagan campaign had to make careful decisions about where to spend money in the remaining primary and caucus states. At this point, Reagan could spend $3.7 million more, while Bush could spend $5 million more. Discussions of the remaining primaries were mostly academic, however. Reagan had 607 delegates to just 126 for Bush [NYT 4/24]. Furthermore, Reagan was almost assured of 12 more primary victories, with only nine competitive states remaining. If Reagan could win the Texas primary, Bush would be locked below 50% of the delegates. Bush's strategy was to use his monetary advantage to win Texas, with hopes of making additional states competitive and somehow prevent Reagan from collecting 50% of the delegates. It was a daunting challenge. Quick Facts When: evening of 4/23/1980 (one hour long but time not specified in news report) Where: Houston Civic Center Moderator: Howard K. Smith Audience size: unknown. The debate aired on PBS stations from 11:10 to 12:10 that evening. Topics: Foreign and domestic policy Sponsor: League of Women Voters Transcript: not available. Format: Questions and answers Setting: Three blue podiums were arranged on a stage (blue carpet) in front of a light blue curtain with a sign that read "League of Women Voters 1980 Presidential Forum." Smith stood behind the center podium, with Bush to the audience's left and Reagan to the right. On the front of the podiums used by Reagan and Bush were the logo of the LWV. he Debate As always, Reagan walked over to Bush before the debate began and shook hands. This touch had not been part of presidential debates before 1980, but Reagan is rarely credited with introducing this element of civility to debates. It is possible this contributed to Bush's reluctance to attack Reagan during the debate, as the commentators speculated was his best strategy. Smith began the debate by asking the candidates if they would agree to a series of four debates in the fall to be sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Both agreed. Bush joked "I'd love to debate in the Rose Garden," a reference to Pres. Carter's earlier statement that he would not leave the White House while the hostages were still in captivity in Iran. The debate then turned to domestic policy. Smith asked Bush about his new compromise proposal of limited tax and spending cuts to balance the budget. Bush called it a "supply side" tax cut of $20 billion, half of which would be targeted for individuals and the other half for businesses. He believed that his proposal would help reduce inflation, boost investor confidence, and lead to increased employment. Bush stated that Reagan's proposed tax cut would amount to $70-90 billion and would "risk exacerbating the deficit." He pointed out that Arthur Laffer, the economist who had written about the theory that tax cuts stimulated the economy, was not sure that the idea would work. Bush believed that Reagan's proposals would boost inflation from 18%, where it was at the time of the debate, to 30%. Reagan defended his proposal and suggested that Bush was offering a plan that was too similar to Pres. Carter's proposals.

• published: 05 Dec 2014
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