Why did Barry Goldwater not select a stronger running mate?
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  Why did Barry Goldwater not select a stronger running mate?
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Author Topic: Why did Barry Goldwater not select a stronger running mate?  (Read 1412 times)
President Johnson
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« on: February 25, 2018, 05:57:25 AM »

I always felt that in William Miller Barry Goldwater selected a very weak and low-profile running mate. Nobody in the American public even heard of this guy before or even after the 1964 election. Why didn't he put someone of more stature on the ticket? It doesn't have to be Rocky, but there were plenty of alternatives avaiable, especially some that appealed to the moderates. Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton would have been a strong choice. Or California Senator Thomas Kuchel. Even Gerald Ford was well liked that time. Of course, LBJ would still have won overwhelmingly, but Goldwater may have done a little better with another running mate. Any thoughts?
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Liberalrocks
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« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2018, 02:07:57 PM »

I’ve read William Miller really hated Johnson and vice versa, Goldwater wanted to get under Johnson’s skin with the pick. Still it was just another in a series of horribly critical blunders Goldwater made that help magnify his loss. Miller also hailed from New York which he would have never carried even in a closer loss. At least we got Stephanie Miller his daughter from it a US radio host who I love.
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Kalwejt
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« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2018, 04:16:14 PM »

Maybe because no high-profile figure really wanted to run with him?
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TexArkana
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« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2018, 07:15:44 PM »

Maybe because no high-profile figure really wanted to run with him?

This is the main reason IMO.
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Podgy the Bear
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« Reply #4 on: February 27, 2018, 08:56:31 PM »

By July 1964, most Republicans (and Goldwater was probably one of them) didn't think there was any chance to beat LBJ.    Throughout most of the 1964 campaign, Goldwater was struggling to break 30 percent in the polls. 

Of course, his final vote was much better than that--38 percent (probably a combination of underpolling in the South and Midwest plus a silent conservative vote--similar to 2016).
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Fuzzy Stands With His Friend, Chairman Sanchez
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« Reply #5 on: February 27, 2018, 09:44:56 PM »

Goldwater needed to shore up the Great Plains and the Mountain West.  There were far more Democratic Governors and Senators in that region than there are now.
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twenty42
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« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2018, 02:44:27 AM »

It wouldn't have made sense to saddle a big-name Republican with the baggage of that election.
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Kalwejt
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« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2018, 08:04:58 AM »

Maybe because no high-profile figure really wanted to run with him?

This is the main reason IMO.

Pretty much why McGovern struggled to find a running-mate. Humphrey, Ribicoff and Mondale turned him down and other possibilities (Kennedy, Wilbur Mills, Reubin Askew, Kevin White) were not even openly approached out of little prospects for them accepting.
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