Bob Molloy: The guy behind the voices in New Hampshire

Bob Molloy owns the microphones. For the past eight primary seasons, the former radio engineer has rented microphones and sound equipment to every candidate in the New Hampshire primaries. Molloy said that he has equipped more than 5,000 political events since 1976, when he first set up a microphone for then-Georgia governor Jimmy Carter.

"As long as when they speak into the microphone something comes out, then I'm happy," Molloy said. "It's up to them after that. I let them put their own foot in their mouth."

Molloy has officially become a New Hampshire election institution. On Jan. 13, the New Hampshire Political Library honored Molloy and other influential politicos with a $100-a-ticket fundraiser for the library at the Holiday Inn in Manchester.

Molloy was involved in one of the most memorable moments in New Hampshire electoral history. In 1980, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan were the front-runners in a tight New Hampshire primary, with Bush having won the Iowa caucuses but Reagan close on his heels.

The Nashua Telegraph was scheduled to have a one-on-one debate. However, the Federal Election Commission ruled that the paper would have to invite all the candidates. So Reagan's campaign paid for the debate. Chaos erupted when the other candidates appeared on stage, demanding to be heard. Reagan spoke up for their inclusion. When moderator Jon Breen demanded that Reagan's microphone be shut off, Reagan wasn't happy. "I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green," he barked.

The moment belonged to Reagan, who went on to win the primary. Now Bob Molloy's microphone from that event resides in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

"Yeah, that one," said Molloy, as he set up for a Republican fundraiser with Senator Bill Frist this month in Bedford. "Best 3,500 bucks Reagan ever spent."

There will be work after tomorrow's primary as well, at his company, Molloy Sound and Video Contractors in Manchester. But the quadrennial primary is prime time for Molloy, 59, and his five employees. The crew wires up microphones and speakers at as many as seven campaign events a day.

A registered independent, Molloy lists current President Bush as one of his favorite candidates to work with, because of "the level of coordination and the familiarity I had with his staff. He had a lot of the same people working with him that were on his father's campaign." On his website, (http://www.molloysoundandvideo.com) Molloy shows off a picture of himself with the president, comparing cowboy boots.

As for the current crop, Molloy judiciously spoke highly of them all, but said former Vermont governor Howard Dean is the best in front of a microphone. "He is the most dynamic speaker of the group," Molloy said. "You don't have to do much tinkering to bring his voice up."

Brian Johnson is a graduate student in journalism at Boston University.