Thom Hartmann wrote that Bernie Sanders should not be compared to George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic Presidential nominee who was buried by Nixon’s CREEP in a landslide. I happen to agree—and while our reasons may differ, our conclusions are the same.
Instead of harkening back to McGovern, Sanders’ candidacy more closely resembles that of Barry Goldwater. Granted, their political views are worlds apart, but they both are movement candidates. Radical revolutionaries.
Barry Goldwater was a man of integrity, and no matter how much you may despise his principles, he never betrayed them. His book, The Conscience of a Conservative, inspired young people across the nation and its impact is still being felt today.
The Republican Party of the 1950s and ‘60s looked much more like the Democratic Party of 2000, made up of mostly moderates, with both liberal and conservative wings (we’ve grown more liberal since. Yay us!). In 1960 the GOP was ruled by the liberal east coast establishment, as represented by Nelson Rockefeller. Weird, huh? You can still hear echoes of Goldwater’s disdain for the elite east coast liberals in the conservative media. The difference of course is that today, the radio talking heads use the label to denigrate Democrats.
Conservatives were considered a fringe group during the ‘50s and early ‘60s, often identified with the John Birch Society, virulent anti-Communists, and conspiracy theorists. Within the Republican Party they were most often ignored, not unlike liberals of today within the Democratic Party.