University Daily Kansan
Monday, Nov. 2, 1964
Page 5
A Choice? Well, Epithets Buried Issues
WASHINGTON —(UPI)— The rugged and sometimes ugly 1964 presidential campaign draws to a close with President Johnson and Sen. Barry M. Goldwater still talking to voters with the fervor of evangelists.
The personalities of the candidates overshadowed the issues. In a confrontation between the liberal wing of the Democratic party and the conservative wing of the Republican party, the campaign has shaken out these basic questions;
- Does President Johnson lack the integrity—as implied by GOP campaigners—to serve as the nation's chief executive?
- **Is Goldwater too trigger-happy** as suggested by the Democrats—to be trusted with management of U.S. foreign and defense policy?
"One hears this campaign is dirty. It is. One hears it is dull. It is. When exchange of epithets substitutes for argument, the mud bath obscures the real viewpoints and muffles the clash of honest interpretation of real facts.
"WE RECALL WITH some nostalgia earlier elections when we observed that most smears were local in origin. Today the worst of them are national in scope and effect . . .
All of the candidates were harassed and sometimes insulted by hecklers. Neutral critics sometimes were dismayed by the campaigns. The non-partisan Committee for Fair Campaign Practices made this comment in its publication last week:
EACH OF THE presidential candidates has traveled thousands of miles, shaken thousands of hands and talked to thousands of people. If they missed any pockets of voters, the vice presidential nominees, Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey and GOP Rep William E. Miller were available to search them out.
"Rarely have the reputations of two opponents for the presidency been pried by so many citizens into the stereotypes of maniac and thief."
As the lesser known challenger, Goldwater has traveled more and spoken more than the President.
BUT JOHNSON RANGED across the country more than most incumbent presidents. Having succeeded to the White House because of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, he wanted to win the presidency in his own right and to win big.
From the start, public opinion polls indicated that Goldwater was far behind Johnson and that, in a sense, he himself was the biggest issue of the campaign. The polls suggested that many voters were prepared to support Johnson
not because they were enthusiastic about him but because they were opposed to Goldwater.
For this reason, Goldwater was presumed to be trailing GOP candidates for Governor, Senator and other offices in many states outside the South. Some like Sen. Kenneth P. Keating, R-N.Y., refused to endorse Goldwater; others called for straight ticket voting but mentioned the presidential nominee as little as possible and conducted independent campaigns.
GOLDWATER WON THE Republican nomination after a bruising pre-convention battle. Many of the Democratic attacks on him were mere echoes or charges from his GOP critics that he was too reckless to be trusted with nuclear weapons and that he would try to turn the clock back in a changing world.
Winning back Republican defectors was given high priority in the Goldwater campaign soon after the GOP convention. Goldwater believes he finally made important progress in this area, particularly after the Walter Jenkins case was splashed across the headlines.
The Democrats also had to worry about defectors, particularly in the South, where Goldwater became a hero to many white Democrats by voting against the civil rights bill.
THIS "WHITE BACKLASH" problem bothered the Democrats in the North, too, particularly among working class families worried about Negro neighbors or Negro competition for job. Outside the South, the "white backlash" seemed to subside during the campaign but it remained to the end a factor of unknown potency.
The "white backlash" and suspected voter distrust of Johnson added up to what the GOP has called "the silent vote" of citizens unwilling to talk politics or to reveal their presidential choices. Goldwater was relying on it to confound the poll-takers.
Goldwater's strategy called for sweeping the Southern states and carrying at least four of the seven most populous states—those casting more than 20 electoral votes each.
tory in 1932.
The rest of the 270 electoral votes needed to win would have to come from the border states, the Midwest and Far West. Goldwater's hopes of victory on the East Coast were never high.
Democratic strategy aimed at all seven of the big states—those sought by Goldwater, plus New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan. The seven states have a total of 210 electoral votes and have been a prime Democrat's target since Franklin D. Roosevelt's first vice-
POLITICAL INDICATORS suggested that Johnson would draw more than the normal share of Democratic support in the farm belt and the Far West but less than normal in the South. Because the civil rights issue was drawn so vividly, he was assured of getting a larger share of the Negro vote than any previous Democratic presidential candidate.
From the time of his nomination, Goldwater has made an issue of "crime in the streets," rising crime rates and what he called "moral decay" in the nation. His remarks about crime in the streets was interpreted by critics to be a reference to racial violence and an appeal for "white backlash" support.
However, Goldwater was convinced that doubt about Johnson's integrity was one of the best issues working for him. He repeatedly asserted that higher standards in the White House were needed to raise the nation's moral standards.
THE CAMPAIGN OUTLOOK was clouded in mid-October when
Jenkins, long a confidential aide to Johnson, resigned after disclosure that he twice had been arrested on morals charges. While Goldwater seldom mentioned the case, other Republican orators were less reserved.
Goldwater did use the Bobby Baker case for frequent attacks on Johnson. Baker is a former Senate official, once closely associated with Johnson, whose outside business activities have been subject to a still unfinished Senate investigation.
The Jenkins case coincided with a Soviet government upheaval, Communist China's first nuclear explosion and the election of a Labor government in Great Britain. These events brought the President back to Washington where, just by doing his job, he could carry on the most effective type of campaigning.
PEACE AND PROSPERITY was the Democratic campaign theme anyway. It was intended to show the President with a firm hand on the tiller of foreign policy and to
arouse the voters with cries of "don't let them take it away" in the field of domestic policy.
Johnson let it be known that he hoped to travel abroad after the campaign to confer with foreign leaders. Without going into detail, he said he would offer new proposals to ease world tensions.
He offered blueprints of no new bold domestic programs but did begin issuing a series of statements on economic issues 10 days before the election.
Goldwater's campaign headquarters issued reports by special task forces dealing with defense, budget policy, Cuba and other issues.
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GOLDWATER or JOHNSON?
Vote for your choice in the STRAW VOTE Today — Strong Rotunda
8:30 to 4:30
Kansas Residents Vote for State Governor.
Sponsored by ASC Current Events and Student Opinion Committees.