Posted on 11/05/2008 11:04:55 AM PST by Fiji Hill
How Goldwater Won
From special coverage in Arizona, HUMAN EVENTS is able to reconstruct the modus operandi of the Goldwater campaign. The young Senator's victory over his well-financed and backed opponent Governor Ernest McFarland, emerges as the outstanding exploit of the Republicans in an otherwise dreary election result.Goldwater ran on a thoroughly conservative platform and record, and in no way dodged issues or resorted to me-tooism or conpromises. He demonstrated that he was no coattail rider when he did not, as did others, cry to Ike [President Dwight D. Eisenhower] for help. In a state with a preponderant Demcostatic registration, Goldwater did not resort to tactics which over the years have undermined the strength of the Republican party in the neighboring state of California, in which registered Democrats also far outnumber Republicans. Goldwater appealed only the the Jeffersonian Democrats and refused to have anything to do whth the New Dealers. He commiserated with the Jeffersonians for their forced asociation with a "bunch of radicals."
Needless to say, he was not afraid of the labor issue and did not fear to attack [United Auto Workers president Walter] Reuther (as did the losing GOP Senator Frederick Payne of Maine). He stood on his well-known record in behalf of labor reform, including the right to work; he made COPE [the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education], Reuther's political arm, the main focus of his attack. Thgrough an efficient campaign intelligence service, he learned in January, 1958, that COPE agents had moved into the state to organize against him. The "G2" of the Goldeater organization was alerted to spot such agents, their cars and out-of-state licenses. The license numbers were checked in the states of origin and agents identified.
All this led to the spotting of the chief COPE organizer, whose criminal record was obtained and published. Arizonans did not like out-of-state labor agents coming in to combat a well-liked Senator and rallied to Goldwatr's support. Meanwhile, organization in the precincts bore much responsibility for the victory. Goldwater sys that he in effect started to organize three years ago, when he began to spot and pledge money necessary for campaign expenses, to gather campaign personnel and to tighten up the structure and staffing of the Republican Party in the state. Fifty faithful Goldwater followers in Phoenix manned a battery of telephones and got 7,000 women to volunteer their services for a special organization to work outside the regular GOP. Each woman volunteer was pledged to obtain support from ten neighbors.
Seventy-thousand pledged voters is no small number in a state like Arizona. The volunteers were schooled in campaign arguments and given kits of campaign material. They performed their door-bell ringing with great efficiency and none failed to make the target. Each volunteer followed up on the day of election with a call to the ten neighbors, insuring their appearance at the polls.
Since Arizona has a large "new" population, numbering many thousands of newcomers from other states, the Goldwater women's organizations staged no less than 200 coffee parties at which the new folds were able the meet the Senator and familiarize themselves with Arizona politics. The Young Republicans were assigned the job of forming "truth squads" to offset rumors and statements by the invading COPE agents. (One false rumor was to the effect that the Goldwater department store in Phoenix had the lowest wages and longest hours of any such enterprise in the staate.) Squads of lawyers were at hand on election and registration day, prepared to appear on a moments notice at any registration or election booth whre challenges were made.
The result was victory--with a pattern that might have been followed by colleagues of Goldwater; and in any case, a blueprint that porvides a vade mecum for the elections two years hence.
Then why did Goldwater get killed in 64?
Sympathy and longing for JFK?
Actually his bedrock principles were what are now deemed “libertarian”.
Barry Goldwater was honest, optimistic and very intelligent and “Honest Mac” as Governor Ernest McFarland was sarcastically known, was a Washington hack and an alcoholic. Unfortunately, I cannot see any Republican who fits the job description epitomized by Barry.
The same way Zero killed McCain. A liberal media in the tank for Johnson with constant "too hawkish" attacks, coupled with a good Democratic campaign machine that culminated with the Daisy Ad.
“I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution, or that have failed in their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is “needed” before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents “interest”, I shall reply that I was informed their main interest is liberty and that in that cause I am doing the very best I can.”
Barry Goldwater
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