PM Carpenter writes on the toxic legacy of McCarthyism:
When Goldwater was crushed in '64, liberals assumed that right-wing politics, if not the Republican Party, was as dead as the cirrhosis-eaten Senator McCarthy.
I recommend to everyone Before the Storm by Rick Perlstein. Its subtitle: "Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus." It is, as you might expect, about the 1964 campaign. But it's also about the origins of the modern -- make that "current" -- Republican party.
What normal, rational people perceived as a crushing defeat was in fact an overwhelming success for the radical rightists and devout anti-New Dealers who set their sights on gaining control of a major political party just about 50 years ago. (They considered Eisenhower -- Eisenhower! -- a communist stooge.) Step One was to get their guy on the ticket. He didn't have to win -- he just had to get on the ticket. So in 1964, it was Mission Accomplished, and on to Step Two -- actually winning.
Now, here's where it gets kind of interesting...
Y'see, they went looking for a candidate to get behind, a man to plug into their program. Which was sort of the wrong way around in politics at the time. Goldwater wasn't quite as good a fit as they thought, as we discovered in later years when he demonstrated a fair amount of integrity. But that's okay, because winning wasn't the main objective.
The word for what they did is "casting" -- which becomes much more appropriate with Ronald Reagan, the next person to be cast. There is, of course, an easily-drawn line from 1964 to 1980, but it's not usually put in these terms. Think of 1964 as the pilot, and 1980 as the series pickup.
The next person cast was George W. Bush. Plug the man into the program -- the program is what matters, not the man. Sorta like swapping out Darrins on Bewitched. This explains what I found to be the puzzling level of vitriol directed at McCain in 2000. Why on earth would you destroy a candidate whose appeal crosses party lines??? Answer: Bad Casting. McCain was (note: "was") the kind of guy who thinks too much, who asks questions, who would put the nation ahead of the program -- a no-no of the first order -- if only occasionally.
George Bush is thus the Dick Sargeant of American politics. And all this time, you thought he was just a dick...
This is why I think all speculation of Jeb Bush or Rudy Giuliani in 2008 is off the mark. Just because we distrust them as much as we distrust L'il Georgie does not mean they are interchangeable with him. My fingers cramp as I write this, but both of them have too much integrity to be plugged into the program. And yeah, I know how much integrity they have...
So who will be cast in 2008? Who will be the new Darrin? Beats the hell out of me. I will say that Frist is doing his very best to convince the sponsors that he can be plugged right into the program. But I don't know if that's enough. They want a method actor -- someone who truly believes the dialogue, not someone who merely recites it.
The auditions are going on now. The callbacks will be when Cheney steps down for reasons of health...