Barry Goldwater: The Most Consequential Loser

The Heritage Foundation ^ | December 1, 2005 | Lee Edwards

[okie01]

I still have my AUH2O pin. Worked my heart out for him.

Indeed, the Senator was the political godfather to many of us.

My first vote for President. And still the best one I ever cast...

[mc6809e]

Barry Goldwater was also pro-choice.

That makes him an obvious CINO -- conservative in name only. </sarcasm>

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

In the June Republican primary in California, for example, an estimated 50,000 volunteers turned out for Goldwater, prompting Rockefeller's out-manned campaign manager to remark, "They kept coming at us like the Chinese Army."

I was one of those 50,000 volunteers. Those were indeed the glory years.

[Robwin]

"Conscience of a Conservative" was one of the first political works I read, and, whether Barry wrote it or not, it made a deep impression on me. My first vote for Prez, sitting on a foot locker at Ft Hood, Texas.

[Humidston]

My first vote as well. And in those days, we paid a poll tax to do so! Those were the good old days, eh?

I still maintain that we should reinstate that pesky old poll tax. Heck, raise the price on it too! Clear the wheat from the chaff.

[stripes1776]

Wilson is the godfather of international globalism and domestic socialism.

Thanks for the summary. I do remember now reading about the League of Nations. I believe that was one of Wilson's projects after WWI. That would be in the late 1910s, just at the time classical laissez faire liberalism took a 180 degree turn and redefined itself in imitation of German, Bismarck socialism. I needed my memory joggled. Thanks.

[ishabibble]

...and so, you built America.

Thank you so much!

[SierraWasp]

By golly there... That just about sums 'er up!!!

[Fiji Hill]

"Don't blame me--I voted for Goldwater"
Bumper sticker slogan, c. 1967

[Humidston]

LOL, not sure about building America, but a bunch of us sure enjoyed seeing the birth of conservatism! Prior to Goldwater, the outlook was bleak.

[SierraWasp]

By golly, 1964, the year of the 9.5 magnitude earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska... The year I moved to CA... The year they started building a magnificent dam at Auburn, CA... The year that big dumb Socialist from TX got elected in his own right and fouled America's reputation in the world as a super power!!!

A lot of un-toward things happened in America that year, but Barry wasn't one of 'em.

[SierraWasp]

Oh! That was also the year of the devastating Earl Warren's SCOTUS decision that "Cows Don't Vote!" (One Man, One Vote) America society has been out of balance between Metro-Sexuals and Rural-Sexuals ever since!!!

[dread78645]

Ronald Reagan: "A Time for Choosing"

[Democratshavenobrains]

Its pretty funny how now all the lefties who used to hate Goldwater pretend to like him for all the ways he was different from Reagan and Bush.

[fallujah-nuker]

My knowledge of the Wilson presidency is nil. Could you state in a few words what he did.

I highly recommend the book "Illusion of Victory" by Thomas Fleming.

[fallujah-nuker]

I was 6 years old during that election, I remember my dad took me to see him when he came to Seattle. My political was to smack the kid across the street who knocked down the Goldwater sign in our front yard. After my father passed away in 2004 I found his "Goldwater" tie clasp and his brother wore it during his funeral (I wore his Boeing 727 tie clasp).

[Cheapskate]

I sit here at the computer with tear filled eyes when I read of these great men who have shaped the country and our movement.

God bless Mr. Goldwater and Mr Reagan.

[gusopol3]

Reagan bio on PBS @ 9PM EST 1/2/06. It looks like it might be fair, or even laudatory, but considering the source, one never knows.

[MinuteGal]

Like many of my conservative contemporaries, the Goldwater campaign was the catalyst for launching our adult lifetime political activism. He holds a special place in my memory.

Leni

[Cheapskate]

I saw the first installmentthe other day. It was alright.

Who knows for sure what they're going to do with the iran -contra situation?

I suspect this segment is where they take their potshots