“But it does mean that people didn’t think government was to be as limited as severely Goldwater assumed it should be.”
What “people” think is irrelevant. The plain text of the Constitution is what is relevant. If “people” want to change it there’s more than one way to do so. But to simply ignore it is wrong.
“It would have been a cheap shot if Goldwater accused his fellow Republicans (and by implication the public who voted for them) of having a totalitarian philosophy and it’s a cheap shot to do so now.”
It wasn’t a cheap shot then and it’s not a cheap shot now. Damn near half the electorate does indeed have a totalitarian philosophy. Just listen to what they’re saying.
L
The plain text of the Constitution may not have supported Goldwater's interpretation either.
I get tired of all the "Everybody in Washington's a Communist" and "Civil War is Coming" and "Whites Get Together".
A little push back against all that isn't a bad thing.
One thing that doomed Goldwater was that he needed so much to be provocative that couldn't keep quiet when he needed to.
It's worse nowadays. A lot of people feel like they have to keep pushing to the extreme, when experience, logic and common sense ought to restrain them.