by Mark Anderson | Updated 21 Jul 2016 at 10:04 AM

Judging from my Twitter feed, most people equated Ted Cruz’s speech at the Republican National Convention to setting off his political suicide vest on stage. Leading up to the speech, pundits everywhere reminded people that at the end of the bitter 1976 campaign, Reagan gave a brilliant speech, one of his best of all time — but in the end, he endorsed Ford.

But it wasn’t just his words. It was Reagan’s selflessness; his greatness, his devotion, his call to duty and putting country first that rang so true in the hearts and minds of the delegates — and made him the favorite for 1980.