Are they ashamed of being Republican? (May 25)
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
You might have noticed that a lot of candidates for the June 8 election are calling themselves conservatives. Not Republicans, mind you, although their names appear on the Republican ticket. Conservatives. As if they knew what the word meant. Conservatives. As if they were ashamed to be Republicans.
Don’t these people know there is a Conservative Party? Why don’t they pledge themselves to that small but well-meaning group? Is it because they know they wouldn’t have a chance of being elected?
Or maybe they are really more like Libertarians, whose philosophies have done a lot to shape modern public policy. But you won’t find Libertarians calling themselves by their proud name, then sneaking on to the GOP ballot.
What is it with these Republicans who are afraid to call themselves by that name? Are they like adolescents who want nothing to do with their parents, but still want the parents to buy them cars?
I happen to have had the privilege of knowing Barry Goldwater, the founder of modern conservatism. He was a wonderful character. He called something by what he thought it should be called. Nobody was more conservative than Barry. But guess what he called himself. A Republican. When he ran for president, he didn’t call himself a conservative. He called himself a Republican.
Goldwater also knew how to govern. He was one of the most respected members of the Senate, by both parties. He knew when to negotiate, and he knew when to stand firm. He knew when to be tough, like when he told Republican President Richard Nixon it was time to resign.
He was a pilot, and a good one. And like any good pilot, he knew what would work and what wouldn’t. But he never closed his mind.
One of his best friends: Jack Kennedy.
Barry was a conservative, to be sure. But he was always a Republican first.
