"We Were Sandbagged"

One of the decisive events of the New Hampshire primary was the strange spectacle of an angry Ronald Rea gan confronting a flustered George Bush on the stage of the Nashua High School gym, while four other candidates jos tled behind them like hapless losers in a game of musical chairs. When the four stalked out, one of them, Representative John Anderson, summed up the group's protest: "The responsibility for this whole travesty rests with Mr. Bush." Countered Bush's New Hampshire campaign manager, Hugh Gregg, the next day: "We feel we were sandbagged."

Reaganites were admitting nothing, but there was evidence that the former Governor's strategists had engaged in some last-minute gamesmanship. It was Reagan who first challenged Bush to a two-man debate on Jan. 29, and the Nashua Telegraph (circ. 25,604) agreed to sponsor it. Two days before the debate, however, the Federal Election Commission ruled that the paper's sponsorship amounted to an il legal political contribution. Reagan offered to split the $3,500 tab with Bush. Bush refused, so Reagan paid for it all.

But on the day of the debate, Reagan suddenly began to worry about complaints from the excluded candidates. Be sides, was it really to his advantage to treat Bush as the only other major candidate? Reagan operatives began calling the other candidates -- Senator Howard Baker, Senator Robert Dole, Representative Phillip Crane and Anderson --- to invite them to the debate. Although Bush told the news paper that he would reluctantly agree to a six-man debate, he was not told of the Reagan camp's maneuvers--whether accidentally or by design is up to each voter to decide for himself.

Once at the gym, Reagan and the four unscheduled candidates went into an anteroom to decide how to proceed. Bush arrived, knowing nothing of this turn of events. As he approached the dais, he was invited to join the others in the anteroom. He declined, pleading the press of time and thinking he might be walking into a trap. When Reagan finally appeared with the other four and argued for a six-man forum, Moderator Jon Breen, editor of the Telegraph, insisted that the format would not be changed.

Then the now famous scene: Reagan grabbing the mike, Breen ordering the power cut off, and Reagan shouting back, "I am paying for this microphone!" Pandemonium. "You Hitler!" someone yelled. "Didn't you ever hear of freedom of the press?" Throughout the uproar, Bush looked confused. "I was invited here by the editors of the Nashua newspaper," he said. "I am their guest. I will play by the rules, and I'm glad to be here." This was generally taken as support for a two-man debate.

When it was all over, Bush was still trying to explain.

"Frankly, I feel he [Reagan! used you to set me up," he wrote to the four candidates the next day. Crane now agrees with that judgment. But the other three candidates still blame Bush for the debacle. Reagan calls Bush's complaints "ridiculous." Admits Bush, with unquestionable accuracy: "I could have handled certain things better."

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