ustxtxb_obs_1964_08_21_50_00003-00000_000.pdf

of the United States in 1787 by great patriots who knew what war was, of civilian control over the military. The very existence of the planet may turn on the wisdom and the patience of the President of the United States. The quick draw, the shot from the hip, were useful on the Arizona frontier. They could be fatal in a nuclear world. AT HOME the overriding problem is that of civil rights. On this issue Senator Goldwater is trapped in a position not of his own making. It appears quite clear that he is personally opposed to segregation, and that his vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was based on constitutional grounds, grounds which to me seem untenable but which it was his sworn obligation to act upon since they are persuasive to him. Unfortunately, to say that the Negro should have equal rights, but that these must be given him by the states rather than the federal government, is to say that the Negro will not have equal rights. The commitment to recognize equality for the Negro is a national commitment. It is a commitment won by the national government on bloody battlefields, memorialized in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments of the Constitution, and made meaningful a hundred years later by the national courts and the national legislature. The wise words of Chief Justice Marshall in 1821 are pertinent: “That the United States form, for many, and for most important purposes, a single nation has not yet been denied. In war, we are one people. In making peace, we are one people. In all commercial regulations, we are one and the same people. In many other respects, the American people are one; and the government which is alone capable of controlling and managing their interests in all these respects, is the government of the Union.” No matter how well-intentioned Senator Goldwater’s insistence that civil rights are a concern of the states, a vote for him will be widely understood as a vote against equality for the Negro. Roy Wilkins recently remarked that the Negro does not need to be told what is meant by talk of states’, rights. Neither does the member of the Ku Klux Klan or the White Citizens’ Council, or the downtrodden white person who feeds his self-esteem by imagining that he is superior to the Negro. Senator Goldwater is personally attractive. His candor, his sincerity, and his devotion to principle are laudable. As senator from Arizona, he serves a useful function in representing a point of view which deserves to be heard, even if it usually should be rejected. A single United States senator cannot increase the danger of domestic violence and of nuclear war. But estimable personal qualities are not enough to fit a man for the highest office in the world. For that office, Senator Goldwater is unfit. tively choosing the candidate I am for. But the choice here is made the easier by the distinguished performance of President Johnson in the eight months he has served. Where Senator Goldwater is weak, President Johnson is strong. He has been a unifying, not a disruptive influence in our national life. He has responded soberly and patiently to crises abroad. He has been extremely effective in solving crises at home and in securing the enactment of legislation which may yield a final resolu Random At the New San Francisco It should not console Democrats that Texans at the Republican National Convention met in the Gas Buggy Room of the new Jack Tar Hotel. They were part of the modern, up-to-date, well-organized team that assured the nomination of Barry Goldwater. In the words of Texas national committeeman Albert Fay of Houston, after he had toured the massive communications center for the Southern states set up by Texas GOP chairman Peter O’Donnell: “Our main rule has been to never leave anything to chance. We’re trying for an overkill.” Fay later told the Texas caucus, “In 1960 we learned some bitter lessons, and we have profited.” They had taken a page from John Kennedy’s political handbook and had started the Goldwater drive soon after the 1960 election. Fay called Goldwater the day after J.F.K. defeated Richard Nixon, offering his support. Secretly in 1961, O’Donnell, the Dallas organizational genius responsible for Rep. Bruce Alger’s successes; John Grenier of Alabama, later Goldwater’s Southern regional chairman, and others began mapping their drive for the nomination. Texas meant a great deal to Barry Goldwater. His top field lieutenant, Phoenix attorney Richard Kleindienst, said in June that the Arizona senator might not have made the race if he had not been able to count on Texas. It became his power base, and with Sen. John Tower leading the South, the Goldwater team put their bandwagon together. The Lodges, the Rockefellers, the Scrantons got the publicity. Goldwater got the pledges, and when the convention opened, as Albert Fay said, they had their overkill. tion of the civil rights issue. He has served the republic well, and deserves the support of the electorate. It is not easy for a loyal party member to desert, even for one election to one office, the party ticket. But the Republican Party has failed in its obligation to the country. Thinking Republicans, putting their country before their party, will vote for President Johnson in 1964, and hope that four years from now the party returns to its responsible traditions. Glances Republicans against Lyndon Johnson. This campaign will test whether a well-oiled, well-financed campaign team can Win in spite of intraparty feuding, LBJ’s “pressing of the flesh,” and the apparent opposition of most of the press. John Kennedy proved that public exposure can make a man a contender for the presidency. Barry Goldwater may prove that an organization can win in spite of exposure. The formula for success in Texas will be that followed in Dallas and in the California primarya massive effort of volunteer workers, oblivious to everything but their goal of electing their candidate. The goal will be a file on every known Republican voter in the state and a drive to get them to the polls. In Dallas, the party organization keeps a computer file on the Republican flock, where they live, and their phone numbers. The day before election each voter gets a call urging a favorable vote. On election day as many as three more calls and the offer of a babysitter are used to get out the conservative votes. In Dallas County alone this system can run into more than _100,000 telephone calls in a 24-hour period, according to State Rep. Dick Morgan, head of the statewide Draft Goldwater Committee. Harris County Chairman Charles said the same sort of file is being prepared in Houston. This system can be a catalyst to elect local and state officeholders, as well as Goldwater. Jack Crichton of Dallas, GOP candidate for governor, said after the convention here, “Barry Goldwater’s nomination means everything to candidates like me.” The night the platform was released, Sen. Tower spoke to 700 Southern delegates, alternates, and guests at a reception August 21, 1964 3 THUS FAR I have followed the cherished Texas tradition of striking the . The problem for Republicans in Texas candidate I am against, rather than posithis fall is to mobilize the same juggernaut