[ikeonic]

Goldwater brought energy and ideas to a Republican Party that needed both. I guess you had to be there to appreciate the enthusiasm he generated.

Indeed. Barry contributed greatly to conservative thought. Not the eloquent speaker and communicator that Reagan was, but Barry would hit you right in the gut and make you think hard about what he was saying. A true fiscal conservative and a social libertarian (which in the post Roe v. Wade world means he would never get very far in today's GOP). We could use a lot more real fiscal conservatives who understand that states shouldn't be welfare queens begging for federal handouts. We need the GOP to grow some cojones and stop feeding the unsustainable growth of the federal beast before we go the way of the Roman Empire and collapse from the weight of massive debt, taxes, overspending and resource depletion.

[catpuppy]

Yes indeed. He did not spin or hedge. Johnson claimed that Goldwater would send 50,000 troops to Vietnam. Perhaps Goldwater might have sent that many. If he had they would have been given the weapons and rules of engagement necessary to bring a swift end to the communist aggression.

As it turned out, Johnson's management of the war resulted in the deaths of 58,226 American troops and 304,000 wounded out of the more than TWO MILLION AMERICANS who served there.