The 'October Surprise': Inside Carter's Grueling 1980 Iran Hostage Crisis

Today's New York Times story is credible but less significant than recent evidence from Madrid that Ronald Reagan's campaign manager tried to delay releasing the hostages until after the election.

The New York Times posted a blockbuster story by Peter Baker this weekend in which Ben Barnes, a former Democratic lieutenant governor of Texas, describes how he accompanied former Texas Governor John Connally on a trip to the Mideast in the summer of 1980 on behalf of Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign. According to Barnes, he and Connally urged Mid…