Missing Persons

HOWARD K. SMITH: Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the first of the League of Women Voters' 1980 presidential debates. Participating in tonight's debate will be, in alphabetical order, John Anderson, candidate of the National Unity Party, the Chair of Jimmy Carter, candidate of the Democratic party, and Ronald Reagan, candidate of the Republican party. Mr. Carter has declined to appear in person because he says he does not want to debate two Republicans. He also muttered something about the Iranian hostage crisis becoming unmanageable again. Thank you gentlemen for accepting the League's invitation.

In tonight's debate, the four journalists on our panel will be given the chance to ask each candidate one question; each of the other candidates will be given the chance to respond. Questioning the candidates tonight we have, in alphabetical order, David Broder of The Washington Post, the Chair of Barbara Walters of ABC News, Martin Nolan of The Boston Globe and Hedrick Smith of The New York Times. Ms. Walters also declined our invitation to be in Baltimore tonight; ABC News has informed us that they refuse to participate on a panel with three newspapers. Thank you all for coming tonight. Mr. Broder, the first question is yours.

David S. Broder: Thank you, Howard. Mr. Reagan, you've been accused of giving simplistic answers to highly complex questions on such important issues as defense and the economy. In a political age in which it seems vital that a candidate possess the intelligence to understand all aspects of an issue, why do you think the public has responded so strongly to your brand of simple answers to complex questions?

Ronald Reagan: No.

Smith: Mr. Carter's chair, your response?

Jimmy Carter's Chair:

Smith: Mr. Anderson?

John Anderson: I think both Mr. Reagan's and Mr. Carter's Chair's answers speak for themselves. They are typical of the blind words of optimism that both of my opponents have been spewing forth for months. But the voters this year want more than promises from representatives of the major parties. They want action and, as the candidate of the National Unity Party-

Smith: Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Your time is up. Mr. Nolan, the next question is yours-to Mr. Anderson.

Martin Nolan: Mr. Anderson, a question along similar lines. Many people have called your speaking style bombastic and inflated, almost as though you pontificate to audiences that want to hear answers to important questions on such issues as defense and the economy. Do you think this has been an effective campaign style, and do you intend to put more substance into your speeches?

Anderson: Let me begin by saying emphatically that I believe-and believe very strongly-that the immense problems we face in our country and society-and indeed the world-today are highly complex and demand carefully considered, well thought out and clearly articulated answers that address these difficult enigmas with intelligence and straightforwardness which, perhaps, when you comprehend. As Alexis de Tocqueville wrote after he crossed this great land, "Americans have all a lively faith in the perfectability of man, they judge that the diffusion of knowledge must necessarily be advantageous, and the consequences of ignorance fatal; they all consider society as a body in a state of improvement, humanity as a changing scene, in which nothing is, or ought to be, permanent, and they admit that what appears to them today to be good, may be superseded by something better tomorrow."

Smith: Is that all?

Anderson: I believe so. Yes.

Smith; Mr. Reagan?

Reagan: (nodding off)

Smith: Mr. Reagan?

Reagan: (Startled) Er, uh. I paid for this microphone. Let's make America great again.

Smith: The next question is from the chair of Ms. Walters and is directed toward the chair of Mr. Carter.

Barbara Walters' chair:

Carter's chair:

Smith: Mr. Reagan, your response?

Reagan: I couldn't make out the question. But I pledge here and now to the American people that should I ever become senile during my term of office, I'll, I'll (fumbling through note cards)...

Smith: Mr. Anderson, your response?

Anderson: In my 20 years on the floor of the Congress in the House of Representatives of the United States, I've done some things that I can't say I'm proud of today. Perhaps the worse of those was my vote in favor of H.R. 13546, which was the bill to fund construction of deep water wells to provide irrigation to apple orchards of less than five square miles owned by minority farmers in the northwest regions of Washington state.

Smith: The next question is directed toward Mr. Reagan.

Hedrick Smith: Mr. Reagan, a recent New York Times/CBS poll indicates that you are now running neck and neck with President Carter. In view of the fact that just six weeks ago, you were rated in some polls as 15 points ahead of Mr. Carter, how do you explain the volatility of the American electorate?

Reagan: Well, I, too, have noticed that the crowds at rallies have been particularly loud this year, and I think, in general, that Americans are just an excitable people.

Smith: I said volatility, not volubility, Mr. Reagan. What I am asking in essence is what you feel the American people are looking for in a presidential candidate?

Reagan: I'm glad you asked me that question here in Baltimore, home of the John Birch Society and birthplace of 567 men who died defending our country's honors and values in our last noble war. But to answer your question, as Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said-(five Reagan aides gag the candidate and remove him from the studio.)

Smith: Thank you, Mr. Reagan. Mr. Carter's chair:

Carter's chair:

Smith: The last word is yours, Mr. Anderson.

Anderson: As has been the case throughout history, in our country and elsewhere in the world, in democracies and totalitarian states alike, ordinary people, like the citizens I meet every day as I travel through this land of ours, have cried out for something new when the old begins to...(transmission of sound interrupted for 27 minutes)...this vast land of ours, which I have traveled for months now, speaking with people from every walk of life, the lowly to the mighty.

Smith: Our time is up, Mr. Anderson. That concludes the first of the League of Women Voters' 1980 Presidential debates. Thank you candidates. Thank you, questioners. Thank you, chairs.