[Meatspace]

Did Goldwater support the civil Right Act of 1964?

[guitar Josh]

Most of it, there was one plank he was against.

[colorado tanker]

Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, one of the few Republicans to do so. The Republican Senate Caucus supported the bill in a higher percentage than the Democrats, who also lead the opposition.

Goldwater was a life long supporter of civil rights and desegregation. He voted against the bill because he thought it was unconstitutional and if upheld would be a dramatic and dangerous expansion of Congress's powers under the Commerce Clause.

Goldwater was right as we saw recently with another power grab under the Commerce Clause, Obamacare. But, voting with the Southern Democrat segregationists stained him going into the 1964 election.

[Rurudyne]

Silly, there’s no delegated power for Congress to require non State actors to obey federal civil rights ... Goldwater still honored the Constitution unlike every so-called “progressive”.