However, if the Barry Goldwater nominated at Cow Palace in 1964 was indeed the libertarian one he became during the 1980's, then I would have easily voted for Goldwater. A bit strange eh?
He was, what changed were the issues. Barry Goldwater, for example, helped found Planned Parenthood of Arizona back in the early 1950s, as one example of his social libertarianism, however issues of this sort were truly mute in the political climate of 1964. His vote against the Civil Rights Act is highly unsettling, though no one who ever met Goldwater thought that he was a racist and he seemed genuine when he stated his reasons were a strong support for states' rights. As the political culture moved away from economic issues and onto social and cultural issues in the late 70s, the libertarian political ideology of Goldwater became more pronounced. The Goldwater who wanted to kick Jerry Falwell's ass and voted in favour of gays serving in the military is almost certainly nearly the same Goldwater, politically, as the 1964 presidential candidate.
I vote Goldwater by the way, an easy decision for me.
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