From The Vaults: Mr. Goldwater Goes to Washington

The Conscience of a Conservative (Barry Goldwater)-

Have to admit I’m a bit impressed. Maybe impressed at an arm’s length. He distrusts the federal government a bit too much, to the extent of voting against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I get that it’s about principle, but if we’re to be a founding and visionary republic, we have to ensure liberty and equality in a broad, societal way. You have to be blinded by rigidity and fundamentalism--- as Pat Buchanan demonstrates he is in his breathless, sycophantic introduction--- not to get that. Also, his strategies for winning the Cold War, mixed as they are with a fuzzy blend of flag-waving and foot-stomping, feel silly at best. Still, this is an able and persuasive manifesto, not to mention an artifact of pre-wingnut conservative respectability; I was particularly taken with his thoughts on Welfare and the dangerous power dynamics of Big Labor.

Listening to the current field of Republican Presidential candidates, it's hard not to get the sense that deep down, they don't believe a word of what they're saying. Does Rudy Giuliani really think that raising taxes will bring more revenue? Does Mitt Romney seriously believe that we should "double Guantanamo?" Does Navy hero John McCain look squarely at the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military and genuinely see success? I doubt it. I think they should read Goldwater again. He may have lost overwhelmingly to the LBJ juggernaut in 1964, but he had the courage of his convictions, and with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, the Goldwater creed finally prevailed. It may well be time for conservatives to go back into the political wilderness. I hope they take some good reading with them.