Barry Goldwater

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Barry Goldwater

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CONSCIENCE OF A CULTURE WARRIOR

The Ron DeSantis Campaign Kicked Off Already… in 1964

The Florida governor’s “antiwoke” agenda is just Barry Goldwater’s playbook updated for the digital age.

Rotimi Adeoye

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opinion
GOLDWATER’S REVENGE

Arizona Is the Viral Breeding Ground of Republican Sickness

This isn’t John McCain’s party anymore, or the same state he represented. The Southern Strategy is back, with a vengeance.

Wajahat Ali

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RED MEANS GO

Republicans Have Been Crying ‘Socialist’ for 60 Years

From Barry Goldwater to Kimberly Guilfoyle, there’s a long tradition of seeing red in every Democrat.  

William Bredderman

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the art of the deal

Why Do Narcissistic Sociopaths Succeed?

Psychological studies and evolutionary biology show that an overconfidence and brash leadership style is both dangerous—and can work.

Tanya Basu

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Shrink Rap

These 27 Top Shrinks Think Trump Might Be Nuts

The Goldwater Rule has long held that mental-health professionals shouldn’t diagnose from a distance. But these experts decided to speak up before it’s too late.

Gail Sheehy

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It’s Come to This

Goldwater: a Moderate Compared to Trump

Yes, Goldwater had hard-line views. But he backed alliances and understood the global order as something grander than a protection racket.

Gordon M. Goldstein

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NEW WORLD

How a Little Girl Beat Barry Goldwater

In 1964, LBJ’s campaign ran the alarming ‘Daisy’ ad tying Barry Goldwater to the threat of nuclear war. In a selection from ‘Republic of Spin,’ David Greenberg offers a play-by-play.

David Greenberg

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Great Expectations

How LBJ and Reagan Wrecked Our Idealism

In the mid-’60s polar opposites Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan promised America more than they could possibly deliver. The result was decades of cynicism about government.

Scott Porch

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Harbinger

Barry Goldwater Is Hot Again

On the 50th anniversary of his ‘extremism in the defense of liberty’ speech to the 1964 GOP convention, it’s time to credit Goldwater as the true father of the Tea Party.

Nicolaus Mills

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50 Years On

The Roots of the GOP’s Race Problem

Thursday is the 50th anniversary of the Great Society and the civil rights push. But if conservative hero Barry Goldwater had had his way, government would have stayed out of it.

Michael Tomasky

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It Works

It's Not Racist to Hate Government

Despite Obamacare’s ‘success,’ the president’s approval ratings are at record lows, and the midterms look shaky. So who can blame Democrats for painting their rivals as Cliven Bundys?

Nick Gillespie

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