Now Barry Goldwater's granddaughter has written a piece saying that she and her siblings and cousins are supporting Obama.
We believe strongly in what our grandfather stood for: honesty, integrity, and personal freedom, free from political maneuvering and fear tactics. . . . Our generation of Goldwaters expects government to provide for constitutional protections. We reject the constant intrusion into our personal lives, along with other crucial policy issues of the McCain/Palin ticket.
My grandfather (Paka) would never suggest denying a woman's right to choose. My grandmother co-founded Planned Parenthood in Arizona in the 1930's, a cause my grandfather supported. I'm not sure about how he would feel about marriage rights based on same-sex orientation. I think he would feel that love and respect for ones privacy is what matters most and not the intolerance and poor judgment displayed by McCain over the years. [Note from Ralph: Before he died, Goldwater expressed his love and support for his gay grandson and took a stand for gay rights, though marriage itself was not on the agenda at the time.]
. . . the Republican brand has been tarnished in a shameless effort to gain votes and appeal to the lowest emotion, fear. Nothing about McCain, except for maybe a uniform, compares to the same ideology of what Goldwater stood for as a politician. . .
Nothing about the Republican ticket offers the hope America needs to regain it's standing in the world, that's why we're going to support Barack Obama. I think that Obama has shown his ability and integrity. After the last eight years, there's a lot of clean up do. Roll up your sleeves, Senators Obama and Biden, and we Goldwaters will roll ours up with you.I well remember Barry Goldwater's race against Lyndon Johnson in 1964. "Mr. Conservative," as he was called, was the arch-enemy of the liberal-progressive agenda. But his granddaughter is absolutely right. He would have denounced the Republican tactics and John McCain's campaign in a minute. As much as we disagreed with him on issues, he would be a breath of fresh air in today's fetid miasma that Karl Rove and his acolytes have wrought; and he would not stoop to rescue John McCain from the cesspool in which his bartered soul is languishing in defeat.
Ralph
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Some 20+ newspapers that endorsed George Bush have now endorsed Barak Obama, including one that has never before endorsed a Democrat, going all 147 years; they even endorsed Abraham Lincoln.
Now Scott McClellan has endorsed him, press secretary for Bush.
And a former Republican governor of Minnesota
Today, Barry Goldwater, Jr. has released a statement disagreeing with his niece about what his father's position might be in this race. He himself will vote for McCain, he says. He further insists that his father would never agree with Obama on policies -- mostly as he sees it those that fall in the category of "big government spending."
He does not address, however, his niece's main point for turning to Obama. It's not so much these traditional conservative issues as it is what the Republicans have done to that tradition (invading rights to privacy, equality and justice) plus the qualities of leadership Obama brings, as well as the type of campaign McCain has run.
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