The Democratic Party of the 1960's. Compare to today's Democrats.
Posted on 04/04/2015 11:25:26 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Conservative columnist George Will says that Sen. Ted Cruz’s theory for running for the White House — that he can get “more votes from traditional Republican constituencies” — was “slain” by the outcome of the 1964 presidential race and simply doesn’t add up.
“The 1964 theory was that many millions of conservatives abstained from voting because the GOP did not nominate sufficiently deep-dyed conservatives,” Mr. Will wrote this week in The Washington Post. “So if in 1964 the party would choose someone like Arizona Barry Goldwater, hitherto dormant conservatives would join the electorate in numbers sufficient for victory.”
Mr. Will said the theory was “slain by a fact — actually 15,951,378 facts.”
“That was the difference between 43,129,566 votes President Lyndon Johnson received and the 27,178,188 that Goldwater got on the way to winning six states,” he said.
Mr. Cruz, Texas Republican, announced his candidacy last week at Liberty University, which bills itself as the world’s largest Christian university.
On Thursday, the Cruz camp issued a press release touting how it has raised $4 million in the eight days since the announcement....
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
From what I understand, Goldwater was demonized in the press, and many people thought he was a warmonger. I mean many literally thought he was going to get the US in a nuclear war. The MSM of the time made Goldwater out to be a nut job, and moderate Republicans did what they love to do—stab the conservative in the back.
Regardless, it’s foolish to think conditions are the same today. The Democrats have moved far, far more left than they were in 1964. Even if it’s true that someone like Cruz has zero chance, what good will it do to nominate someone only moderately less leftist than a Democrat.
Consider Jebbie Bush, the aristocrat from Florida. Here is a man who is virtually indistinguishable from Hillary Clinton on most of the major issues of the day. In other words, winning with Jebbie is essentially a loss—same as a loss with Cruz.
We conservatives deserve the opportunity to elect someone who represents our ideals. If that nominee subsequently goes down to defeat, then the country is pretty much gone anyway. The moderates, of course, will continue to fight us tooth and nail, but honestly...they’re killing the country only slightly slower than the left.
I don’t think we should surrender to the squishy middle simply because they assume their guy is more electable. Let’s fight!
And then what, he ignored me therefore (Blankiity Blank) and will not win.
They're cracking up to early. Scary.
Shut up George.
The R establishment abandoned Goldwater and he was unable to fight off the D smear campaign (like he’d start a nuclear war).
The more germane and recent example however is Ronald Reagan.
Now, RR did not only get the right wing vote, he reached out (yes, largely on social issues) to get a whole lot of traditionally-D votes, too. Today, the D party is really super-split...between... working people (unions or not) versus welfare people (which the party leadership is growing and growing and growing and..)........... and between blacks and nearly everyone else, due to Obama especially polarizing the races...............and between people who still are loyal to USA and the new IslamoNazi/communist group that’s seized control of the party central apparatus
The D party is in shambles, breaking apart (again, largely due to Obama but now also Hillary...both extremely polarized, and polarizing people)
a strong R campaign could win by reaching out to the workers and those D’s who have more moderate or tradional social values....add those together and it will be quite like the RR victory
Will has shown himself to be an old fogie who has been inside the Beltway far too long. I’m sure he was well paid for expressing the party line all over the country.
Sorry George, Mr. Cruz has the mojo because the time has come.
so Will ignores Ronald Reagan’s path to a landslide victory. Huh.
George Will: just another stupid smart guy in DC.
Is that really true? I've not seen a comparison of their positions.
Seems to me that there is enough different between 1964 and now that it no longer applies. Today we're dealing with a real disaster, not just the threat of one.
George Will equal statist.
Even if you were to see both of their positions listed side by side, it would be meaningless.
The point is that Jeb would potentially cave to anything dumped on him by the left, so he really doesn’t have any positions.
Thankfully...it isnt up to George Will.
I grew up in Az, was a young lad when Barry ran. Read every book that Goldwater wrote and was my hero in my teens.
Goldwater’s biggest mistake was that he thought the press would be fair and it would be a debate on issues. The press buried him. LBJ’s nuclear bomb political ad was beyond pale.
Goldwater was not a warmonger, but more libertarian in the political realm and a staunch constitutionalist. His mistake was believing that he would receive a fair shake.
He even mentioned Cronkite’s betrayal of him that violated common decency.
Cruz is in a different time and knows history. The press will not be good to him, as they weren’t with Reagan. Reagan was supportive of Goldwater and he saw how Barry was treated in the press. Cruz will by pass the leftists as did Reagan and become the front runner.
Goldwater was naive, as he was in untested waters. Reagan wasn’t and neither is Cruz.
The Democratic Party of the 1960's. Compare to today's Democrats.
Will said this same crap about Reagan...@-hole.
I’ll agree with others. Goldwater was smeared as a war-monger by the press and went down to defeat. Johnson, of course, then ramped up the war and had half a million men in the war zone.
Similarly Obama came into office promising an end to war. Instead we are still taking casualties and the entire middle east is on fire.
I was old enough to follow the campaign.
Johnson ran as Kennedy’s successor.
Needless to say, if the country had known that Johnson murdered Kennedy, Goldwater could have won.
I think I remember, as a young lad, bumper stickers that said “Goldwater want’s to nuke Vietnam” or something like that. Any other old fart’s, as my Dad always said, remember that?
AS a kid, I remember Goldwater/Hot Water; and then LBJ followed the same plan.
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