When will Republicans have their Barry Goldwater moment?

WaPo ^ | 10/15/13 | Reid Wilson

[stonewall_jackson215]

There are moments in American political history when one of the two major parties finds itself badly out of step with the middle, so beholden to its base that it cannot appeal to the centrist voters who decide most elections. What comes next is a series of predictable steps: Lose a few elections, hit the political equivalent of rock bottom, then turn control of the party over to a relative centrist who can recast the party in a new light.

It happened to Republicans when Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) won only six states, and 38.5 percent of the vote, in 1964; four years later, the party nominated Richard Nixon, one of the more liberal Republican presidents of the 20th century.

[cripplecreek]

It happened to Republicans when Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) won only six states, and 38.5 percent of the vote, in 1964

After the George Romney wing of the party actively threw the election to the democrats.

[dirtboy]

Goldwater. Lost the battle. Won the war. I’ll take another such moment any time if it leads to another conservative rising.

[NormsRevenge]

BlowBack Mountain, Dead Ahead, Cap’n Obama!

Brace for contact.

Raise the gates.. release the media lapdogs.

[RightGeek]

Nice of old Reid to worry about the Republicans like that. [sarc off

[MNnice]

Goldwater’s loss paved the way for the Reagan Revolution.

[headsonpikes]

On the long uphill road to historical understanding, it’s good to know that one can always safely disregard the political insights offered by the Washington Post.

Reliably false - that’s not a bad thing.

[apillar]

Lol! Never thought I would read a story saying what the party needs is another Richard Nixon....

[Vigilanteman]

Yep. You think the WaPo might question when the Democrats will ever have their George McGovern moment. Or Walter Mondale moment. Both lost worse than Goldwater.

And now the standard bearer for their party makes both McGovern and Mondale look like Eisenhower centrists.

[Viennacon]

“the party nominated Richard Nixon, one of the more liberal Republican presidents of the 20th century.”

Nixon who blighted the Republican brand so badly, that Jimmah Carter managed to get elected over his hapless VP?
I just love when the Washington Compost or the Communist News Network gives Republicans advice. It’s always so helpful.

I’ll say this much. If the party ever hands the reins to another McLame for president, another squish, there will be an exodus.
We’re not doing this again.

[yarddog]

I can remember wondering why the media absolutely hated Richard Nixon as he was not really conservative in most ways.

After all these years I think it was actually very simple. He hated Communism and that was the whole ball of was for the vast majority or the media.

[comebacknewt]

The Republican Party is dead. No sense trying to revive it now.

It needs to be blown up, and a new conservative party needs to emerge.

[MUDDOG]

It was sad when Barry got old and got Liberalheimers.

[okie01]

Goldwater. Lost the battle. Won the war.

I've often wondered how different America would be today, had Barry won in 1964.

No Viet Nam War.

No War on Poverty.

A healthier Civil Rights Act. A Voting Rights Act that applied to every state equally.

An intact Social Security Trust Fund -- beyond the reach of a rapacious Congress.

Reagan in '72...???

[Kansas58]

And Goldwater lost to who?
LBJ
Who got us deep into the Vietnam War!
LBJ called Goldwater a “war monger” and then, true to Democrat form, LBJ did exactly what he accused Goldwater of wanting to do!

[Viennacon]

“There are hints that history could repeat itself. Republicans worry that if Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell loses his primary, his seat would flip to Democratic control.”

I love this utter BS from someone who doesn’t have FREAKIN’ CLUE what he is talking about. The Kentucky senate seat is only in danger if Mitch McConnell WINS the primary!

“Whether it’s New Jersey Sen. Chris Christie (R) or Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) or Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, there will be a moderate alternative”

This is the SAME Washington Post who said that Paul Ryan was an extremist who wanted to kill grannie. Now he’s a moderate again?!

The media in this country needs to die.

[demshateGod]

“One faction, the older, more established wing of the party, wants to travel the middle path, in hopes of appealing to unaffiliated voters.”

And who gets to decide where the middle is? The communists always define it.

[MUDDOG]

Amen brother.

[demshateGod]

“...Cuccinelli’s unapologetic conservatism is partly to blame.”

Hmm, maybe not. Maybe it’s because “party strategists are already casting blame for Cuccinelli’s disappointing campaign;” In other words, preemptively surrendering again. Maybe we’re losing because of these “party strategists.”

[Fiji Hill]

It happened to Republicans when Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) won only six states, and 38.5 percent of the vote, in 1964; four years later, the party nominated Richard Nixon, one of the more liberal Republican presidents of the 20th century.

• There were factors other than Goldwater's conservatism that contributed to his defeat. The candidate himself was reluctant to run, his campaign was divided and incompetently led, and the liberal Republicans sat on their hands, refusing to help Goldwater. In addition, the nation was still getting over the JFK assassination, providing LBJ with a "sympathy" vote, and the economy was good, which favored the incumbent.

• Nixon did not campaign as a liberal, but rather, as a champion of the "forgotten Americans" of the middle class, which he later dubbed the "Silent Majority." He turned liberal after winning the White House. In 1971, Alabama Governor George C. Wallace, the American Independent Party candidate in 1968 complained that Nixon ran for president on his platform and after he got in, ran the country on Hubert Humphrey's.