That’s the name J. William Middendorf II assigned to his eyewitness account of Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign (Basic Books, 2006).
Middendorf — who served as campaign treasurer — offers a picture of a chaotic and often disjointed campaign. Readers will have no trouble discerning which of his colleagues Middendorf blames for at least some of the chaos.
But you also read about committed conservatives who believed in Goldwater’s candidacy (even when the Arizona senator showed little to no interest in a White House bid).
Goldwater’s campaign style and interpersonal skills take some hits in the book, but Middendorf generally portrays the GOP nominee as principled and genuine.
In the end, the Goldwater of The Conscience of a Conservative, the Goldwater who had excited so much attention and support, had stumbled. But Barry didn’t coast through the campaign; he had worked very hard. As I’ve already noted — many of those things that some of us saw as tactical errors or unwitting blunders were things that he did on purpose, believing that voters would see him as an “honest guy” who wasn’t afraid to tackle big issues — as a man who would be an honest president, and worthy of their vote.
As George Will once said, “Goldwater won the election in 1964. It just took 16 years to count the votes.”
