Mitt Romney and the ghost of Barry Goldwater
I just finished reading Rick Perlstein's terrific book on Barry Goldwater and aspects of the genesis of the conservative movement in American. It's called Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus (2001). I had started it some time ago, and finally got back to finishing it. No reflection on the book. I'm frequently reading a few books at once and I sometimes just forget about one I had on the go. That's what happens when you're a part of the television generation. I read books like I watch the boob tube, "clicking" different books in front of my brain.
Barry Goldwater, of course, won the GOP nomination for the presidency in 1964 and then was thumped by LBJ. Goldwater was way out there in terms of his conservatism and a lot people never thought they'd see the likes of it again, but I have to think the Tea Party looks fondly on old Barry's career. His campaign slogan was "In your heart, you know he's right." Opponents changed it to, "In your guts, you know he's nuts." Like I said, a Tea Party darling.
It was a different time, but one thing that Mitt Romney and Barry Goldwater certainly have in common is an extreme view when it comes to free market capitalism, which is to say a "hands off" approach, an easy perspective to have when you're born with a silver spoon stuck up your... well.
The market is perfect. Just leave it alone, everything will be fine, at least for them.
By the way, Milton Friedman served as an economic advisor to Barry Goldwater, just to give you an idea. If Friedman were still alive I can't help thinking Mitt would be giving him a call.
Goldwater was born into a family that owned the largest department store chain in Arizona. We know about Mitt. The terrific cartoon above, which may be a little hard to read, is an image of Goldwater standing in front of poor people saying "If you had any initiative, you'd go out and inherit a department store." It's a Herb Block cartoon, which appeared in the Washington Post in 1964. Fabulous.
Too different times in America's history, but a lot of the rhetoric from the earlier time is strangely familiar.
(Cross-Posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)
Barry Goldwater, of course, won the GOP nomination for the presidency in 1964 and then was thumped by LBJ. Goldwater was way out there in terms of his conservatism and a lot people never thought they'd see the likes of it again, but I have to think the Tea Party looks fondly on old Barry's career. His campaign slogan was "In your heart, you know he's right." Opponents changed it to, "In your guts, you know he's nuts." Like I said, a Tea Party darling.
It was a different time, but one thing that Mitt Romney and Barry Goldwater certainly have in common is an extreme view when it comes to free market capitalism, which is to say a "hands off" approach, an easy perspective to have when you're born with a silver spoon stuck up your... well.
The market is perfect. Just leave it alone, everything will be fine, at least for them.
By the way, Milton Friedman served as an economic advisor to Barry Goldwater, just to give you an idea. If Friedman were still alive I can't help thinking Mitt would be giving him a call.
Goldwater was born into a family that owned the largest department store chain in Arizona. We know about Mitt. The terrific cartoon above, which may be a little hard to read, is an image of Goldwater standing in front of poor people saying "If you had any initiative, you'd go out and inherit a department store." It's a Herb Block cartoon, which appeared in the Washington Post in 1964. Fabulous.
Too different times in America's history, but a lot of the rhetoric from the earlier time is strangely familiar.
(Cross-Posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)
Labels: Barry Goldwater, conservatism, Mitt Romney
posted by Richard K. Barry at
11:00 AM
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