What I was struck by was the near-complete lack of any true conservatives interviewed about Goldwater and his legacy. It was all family members and liberals. Sure, they got George Will in there as a token. Where was Bill Rusher, or William F. Buckley, Robert Novack, or even Pat Buchanan? All would have had significant things to say about Goldwater and his philosophical legacy.
But no, the filmmaker was intent on showing: 1) Goldwater was a "true conservative" whose legacy is being betrayed by the current crop of said species; and 2) Goldwater's version of libertarian conservatism is the true path and is now embraced by "liberals" (who all happen to be Democrats, e.g., Hillary Clinton, Al Franken, Walter Cronkite, Ben Bradlee, Ted Kennedy.... a virtual Who's-Who of Democrat scum).
What the film failed to mention is that in the 70's and 80's, it was the Democrats who cracked up -- they embraced an extreme form of McGovernism and have tried to stamp out the Scoop Jackson wing of the party, a trend which they continue to this day (see Joe Lieberman). Goldwater was (more or less) consistent, except in a couple of instances. I found out from last night that his pro-choice stance stemed from his daughter's abortion in the early 60's and his pro-gay stance in the 80's stemed from the coming out of his grandson. So his "liberal" stances" all come from personal, family events, rather than from a philosophical re-orientation.
What the film also failed to mention was that Goldwater's conservatism was not "anti-big government" per se; it was anti-stupid big government, ala Johnson's "Great Society" (a fascinating quote in last night's film was where Lyndon says that a "Great Society is the American people's entitlement" Very telling moment.) Goldwater, like Reagan, understood that a big government was necessary to fight the USSR and the Cold War; he had no problems voting billions for defense. It was the moronic social engineering of liberals that he despised.
Funny how none of the interviewed liberals last night mentioned this.
His daughter's abortion was in 1955, and of course his wife had been involved with Planned Parenthood since the 1930's, so I think the idea that his more "liberal" (libertarian) stance on those issues was a result of the debilitations of old age is wishful thinking on some peoples' part. It seems to me he was consistent all the way through about the things that are, and are not, the government's business.
It would be interesting to know how CC Goldwater selected the people she interviewed, but we don't know that and aren't likely to. I had not known of Goldwater's personal relationship with Sally Quinn's family, but I had known of the "whistle-stop" tour that Kennedy and Goldwater hoped to do in 1964. I think that would still be a great concept - so would the idea that you can work with people with whom you disagree, without being personal enemies.