Although Carter now had enough delegates to clinch the nomination , Kennedy carried his campaign on to the 1980 Democratic National Convention in August in New York , hoping to pass a rule there that would free delegates from being bound by primary results and open the convention . This move failed on the first night of the convention , and Kennedy withdrew . On the second night , August 12 , Kennedy delivered the most famous speech of his career . Drawing on allusions to and quotes of Martin Luther King Jr. , Franklin Delano Roosevelt , and Alfred Lord Tennyson to say that American liberalism was not passé , he concluded with the words : The Madison Square Garden audience reacted with wild applause and demonstrations for half an hour . On the final night , Kennedy arrived late after Carter 's acceptance speech and while he shook Carter 's hand , he failed to raise Carter 's arm in the traditional show of party unity . Carter 's difficulty in securing the assistance of Kennedy supporters during the election campaign contributed to his November defeat by Ronald Reagan
1980 Democratic National Convention
1980 Democratic National Convention
Ted Kennedy