Remembering Barry Goldwater - Chuck Muth

"Sen. Barry Goldwater was a Goldwater conservative before being a Goldwater conservative was cool.

As such, he is often credited with sparking not one, but two modern-day political movements: (1) The conservative movement within the Republican Party, which turned his 1964 presidential electoral defeat into Ronald Reagan’s 1980 electoral victory, and (2) the modern “small l” libertarian movement which is split as a wing within the Republican Party and the Libertarian Party itself.

This political divide of the “Goldwater conservative” movement has been largely responsible for the movement’s failure to attain the kind of political power necessary to advance a truly limited government agenda dedicated to the protection of free markets and individual liberty.

The political conundrum faced by philosophical libertarians is readily seen in the current presidential contest, where adherents are split between supporting the official presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party (once chosen) or the candidacy of Rep. Ron Paul, a philosophical libertarian running as a Republican. The decision is complicated by the fact that Paul ran for president once before, back in 1988, as the official nominee of the Libertarian Party.

What’s a Goldwater conservative to do?"

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