3.12.2007

Hillary, King and Goldwater

In Hillary, King and Goldwater, Chicago-Suns Times columnist Robert Novak examines the incongruity between the Hillary Clinton of 1963 who was allegedly 'inspired' by Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Hillary Clinton of 1964 who campaigned as a "Goldwater Girl" for Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign.

First, Hillary is moved by Martin's challenge to "...us that evening to stay awake during the great revolution that the civil rights pioneers were waging on behalf of a more perfect union." But then she joins arch-conservative Barry Goldwater's campaign for president.

Not only was Barry Goldwater the founder of modern day political conservatism in America, but his failed presidential bid of 1964 was animated in part by his staunch opposition to the historic voting rights act of 1964. Claiming that the federal government undermined "state rights", Goldwater joined Southern Democratic segregationists in opposing the voting rights legislation championed by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Goldwater won in only Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and his home state of Arizona in his landslide defeat to LBJ.

No comments:

Post a Comment