Barry Goldwater was a great man. His book A Conscience of a Conservative was the most widely read political manifesto of the 20th century, and still a great read today, espousing conservative principles in the clearest of language.
We should be so lucky to get another Goldwater.
His first wife Peggy was a National Director of Planned Barrenhood from about 1940 to her death in 1975 or so. Barry Goldwater was another abortion enthusiast who bragged about bringing his daughter for an abortion and that anyone who did not like it could kiss his ass. Actually we ought to have kicked it.
Goldwater was also an enthusiastic supporter of homosexual "rights" and had risen in defense of homosexual relatives.
Goldwater was far more a libertarian than a conservative. His book should have been Presumptions of a Gadfly. "His book" was ghostwritten and issued in his name. The best part of Goldwater even as a libertarian was his speechwriter Karl Hess.
He was an advocate of sharply reducing the size of government and was sometimes a supporter of military hardware. He had a salty personality that pleased conservatives numb from suffocating liberalism.
He eagerly supported Gerald Ford over Ronaldus Maximus and even cut an advertisement for the California, reminiscent of the little girl with the daisy ad used against BMG in 1964, asking primary voters whether they REALLY trusted Reagan near the nuclear button.
He supported Lowell Weicker when Weicker was being driven from the Senate by Connecticut conservatives.
He was not fit to shine Reagan's boots.
In later years, Mr. Integrity also developed into a serial liar (promising to change to pro-life in 1980 in exchange for pro-life endorsements when he seemed to be going down) and then reneging 100%, not that pro-lifers should EVER have trusted him. We can do without another Goldwater. What we need is more conservatives like Reagan, Laxalt, Buckley, and others like them.