re: #76 celticdragon

Being something of a Goldwater fan, I note with sadness that the social conservatives pretty much killed off all of us Goldwater types.

We need Goldwater now. His was a powerful, consistent voice that shaped Conservatism and kept it on course as best he could while still alive. His dismay at the power wielded by the religious right was palpable.

And I wouldn’t even grant the “social conservatives” the name “conservative” in the first place; there’s nothing Conservative about wielding the power of the state to intrude on the private lives of citizens.

There, of course, lies the problem. When those vying for power within a movement consist of a group that believes the best government is the least government, while another believes that they are commanded by God to enact their theocracy, it’s almost a given which will prevail, at least over short terms.

I wouldn’t say that Goldwater Conservatives have been killed off, though. They’ve hunkered down, or become independents, or in a few groundbreaking cases have switched over to the Democratic side of the aisle where the discomfort may be as great as what they feel on the GOP side these days, but the potential for change may be better.