Indie pol Anderson dies

JOHN ANDERSON, a former Illinois congressman whose eloquent and quixotic 1980 presidential campaign as an independent may have helped propel Ronald Reagan to the White House, has died at his home in Washington. He was 95.

His death Sunday was confirmed by his daughter Diane Anderson.

A 10-term congressman, Anderson (photo) waged an independent campaign in 1980 against President Jimmy Carter and his Republican challenger Reagan. Anderson received 7% of the vote, splitting the anti-incumbent vote.

In his later years, Anderson became a lecturer and spokesman for political reform, drawing attention every four years as he was called on to discuss other third-party presidential candidates.

Anderson was a Republican for nearly all of his elected political career, but his views became more liberal as his party shifted rightward. He left the party altogether when, as a GOP presidential candidate in 1980, he lost several primaries and decided to go it alone as an independent.

Carter refused to debate Anderson, but Reagan agreed to a televised confrontation, making Anderson the first third-party presidential candidate to debate a major-party opponent on TV.