for. If you don't agree, if you don't think that this course that we've been on for the last four years is what you would like to see us follow for the next four, then I could suggest another choice that you have." After trailing Carter by 8 points among registered voters (and by 3 points among likely voters) right before their debate, Reagan moved into a 3-point lead among likely voters immediately afterward. Endorsements In September 1980, former Watergate scandal prosecutor Leon Jaworski accepted a position as honorary chairman of Democrats for Reagan. Five months earlier, Jaworski had harshly criticized Reagan as an "extremist"; he said after accepting the chairmanship, "I would rather have a competent extremist than an incompetent moderate." Former Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota (who in 1968 had challenged Lyndon Johnson from the left, causing the then-President to all but abdicate) endorsed Reagan. Three days before the November 4 voting in the election, the National Rifle Association endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time in its history, backing Reagan. Reagan had received the California Rifle and Pistol Association's Outstanding Public Service Award. Carter had appointed Abner J. Mikva, a fervent proponent of gun control, to a federal judgeship and had supported the Alaska Lands Bill, closing to hunting. General election endorsements Anderson had received endorsements from: Former officeholders Former Representative (Arizona's 2nd congressional district) and Interior Secretary Stewart Udall (D-AZ) Current and former state and local officials and party officeholders Massachusetts Middlesex County Sheriff John J. Buckley (D-MA) Former Massachusetts State Representative Francis W. Hatch Jr. (R-MA) Former Massachusetts Republican Party chairman Josiah Spaulding (R-MA) Celebrities, political activists, and political commentators Newspapers The Hutchinson News in Hutchinson, Kansas The Burlington Free Press in Burlington, VT Carter had received endorsements from: Newspapers The Des Moines Register in Des Moines, Iowa The Penn State Daily Collegian in State College, Pennsylvania Commoner had received endorsements from: Celebrities, political activists, and political commentators Montgomery County precinct committeeman and Consumer Party Auditor General candidate Darcy Richardson (D-PA) DeBerry had received endorsements from: Celebrities, political activists and political commentators American People's Historical Society director Bernie Sanders of Vermont Reagan had received endorsements from: United States Senate Arizona Senator Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ) Virginia Senator Harry Byrd Jr. (D-VA) New York Senator Jacob Javits (R-NY) Former Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooke (R-MA) United States House of Representatives Representative (California's 12th congressional district) Pete