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R. H. S.
Crossman
RADICALS ON THE RIGHT
The predictable-and yet unexpected-result ,of the Re–
publican Convention was one of those shocks which does not wear off
with time. Unlike the death of Kennedy which-here in Britain, at
least-seemed to recede into history with almost improper precipitancy,
the impact of Barry Goldwater's candidacy deepens week by week.
If
one tried hard, one c,ould explain Senator McCarthy away as an
ebullient adventurer, and picture
him
as the dirty froth of American
democracy in full spate.
As
for McCarthyism, it was just possible
to
dismiss it as a freak epidemic, and to point to the speed with which
American democracy returned to health as a sign of vitality.
Reflecting on the consequences of Mr. Goldwater, however, ,only
the most superficial friend of the United States can deceive himself
with such clinical metaphors. Indeed, the most terrifying aspects of the
Goldwater candidacy are the healthiness and normality of this self–
appointed prophet of American extremism- the well-balanced person–
ality, the extrovert ethics, the hearty and wholesome family life. Here
is no rabid rabble-rouser, one says
to
oneself, seeing Barry Goldwater
on television-no eccentric demagogue running a freak campaign, but
a respectable and respected American citizen: not the American fascist,
in fact, but the quiet American, spokesman of worries and frustrations
derided by the intellectual establishment, but voiced for years in tens
of thousands of offices and clubs.
Right up to San Francisco I resolutely refused, along with most of
my countrymen, to take Barry Goldwater seriously. Even the pusil–
lanimity of Mr. Eisenhower and the priggish incompetence of Mr.
Scranton did not open my eyes before the Convention started. Indeed,
I only realized how unperceptive I had been when I
read
for the