Bob Schaffer: “I was in college, starting my freshman year, it was 1980, during the campaign between President Reagan and President…”

“I was in college, starting my freshman year, it was 1980, during the campaign between President Reagan and President Carter, and I remember the first debate, I think it was the debate in Cleveland, that was televised. All of my friends who I had just met at the University of Dayton met in my dormitory room, so imagine 10 or 15 people packed into a small little cell and watching this debate on television. For many of us at that time, we were just starting to figure out where we stood politically in America. President Carter, as you know, was a very honorable man, a very well respected President, in his personal qualities. He might have caused some, those of us who ended up being pretty conservative in Washington, to be at least open and attracted in some ways to the liberal thought governing the country at that time. But it was that debate that stated with such clear terms the distinction between liberal leadership in America and a conservative vision for America's future. It was at that point in time, after watching the whole debate, that I was inspired in a way that is almost beyond description. I not only decided that I wanted to become an active Republican, but signed up that very day with the Republican organization there at the University of Dayton, and that was the beginning of my political activism.”