Actually Goldwater was so ahead of his time, he was borked even before Bork was, and he was smeared and slimed from both the right and the left.

Ponder on how much better off the world would have been had he, not the vile LBJ been elected in '64.

Are you kidding, erp? There would have been a whole generation of flower-picking little girls who would have never grown up, once Goldwater nuked them. Just ask Bill Moyers.

It's like the Republicans don't want my vote, and yet the Democrats don't want it either. Anyone up for a small government, pro liberty party? And I've given up on the ostrich, Head-in-the-sands-when-it-comes-to-
foreign-policy Libertarian Party.

I'm with you, rbj, but I'm afraid we're both out of luck. The Constitution Party is a bit too Christian for my taste.

I read Conscience of a Conservative when I was in college in the 60's and my conversion was complete. I voted for Goldwater in 1964 and my vote counted. I voted in Louisiana, one of the few states he carried.

Parties are fluid - just do your damnest to make your point of view the downhill that they'll flow to. That's about all we can do.

It's not Santorum's assertion that the family is the foundation of a society I take issue with- It's his rigid definition of family (i.e. heterosexual...and preferably white, Christian and affluent).

Santorum's barely-disguised bigotry and fascist worldview is why I will be doing my level best to oust him in '06. His kind of family we don't need.

I voted for Barry because I read his book my freshman year. I also read Starship Troopers that year. The two best books on what it means to be a good citizen I have ever read. I would probably have voted for Bob had he run for office.
BTW there is no doubt in my mind 41 years after the fact the Barry would have been a much, much better Pres than LBJ.

Goldwater wrote, "Every man, for his individual good and for the good of his society, is responsible for his own development."

Similarly, one becomes a bodhisattva by obtaining the "mind of enlightenment," and taking a vow to attain supreme enlightenment for the sake of all beings. Rather than escaping the birth/death cycle of samsara and achieving nirvana, a bodhisattva develops himself just enough so that he can help others.

Self-development as a means to fulfill your responsibilities to others: the Goldwater-Buddha connection.

Dig it.

Right you are.

There will a third party, independent, Ross Perot type that might allow Hillary to win in 2008 for the reasons stated here...there is no one for conservatives to vote for.

I think Rauch overestimates the effect Santorum or his book will have, at least on the Republican Party.

Sorry you had me read the whole thing, VP. It made me pine for the vigor and health of a two party system of Libertarians and Conservatives, in which leftism is wholely unrepresented, in which the extremists along any axis are not over-the-top, and in which one would be fortunate enough to have difficulty in deciding which party one likes even better than the other. It's that delicious push and pull one feels in a debate amongst sides that are all really close to the mark.

Alas, it is not to be. My gosh, we have the Republicans, the Democrats and the Libertarians!

The Game — Well, that'll serve ya right, then.

FYI - this was entirely ghost written by Brett Bozell ;)

Bet you didnt know that.

wow... its the Bozell that was Bill Buckleys buddy at Yale... not the other one if im getting their names mixed up.

I'd advise near Libertarian types (pro-choice) to try to take over the Dem party, and make them the small gov't party -- so that the jackboot of gov't is OFF the necks of the poor.

And end big-corporation welfare; have a flat tax for people and corps (at 20% it would be more than most corps now pay); free trade for the poor.

Thing is, poor vote Dem to have the gov't give THEM a free lunch; and the rich vote Rep to get their own free lunch. And yes, "there is no such thing as a free lunch" -- but it seems free if you can get the gov't to pick up the check.

Like rebuilding NO