The Myth America Contest

Every political year gives rise to political myths, and 1964 is no exception. Of the two most prevalent so far, one works against Barry Goldwater, the other for him.

Myth No. 1 is that "Goldwater's nomination would set the Republican Party back 20 years."

The New York Times, which fervently believes this one, gave Barry a break of sorts last week when it cut the period by which Goldwater's nomination would set the party back to a mere decade.

The notion behind the myth is that although Goldwater would almost certainly lose to Lyndon Johnson, he would remain the party's national leader, and his fervent followers, who believe their brand of Republicanism is the only kind, would take over the G.O.P. machinery for years to come.

Recent history points to the flaw in the theory. As it happens, losers have an awfully hard time controlling anything thereafter. Alf Landon certainly didn't control the Republican Party after 1936. Neither did Wendell Willkie after 1940, or Dick Nixon after 1960. Tom Dewey did maintain his control between 1944 and 1948, but he did it with the help of a superb political machine. Goldwater has no such machine, and the chances that he could control the G.O.P. after defeat seem negligible.

Myth No. 2 holds that "Goldwater should be nominated so as to provide, once and for all, a clear-cut choice between a conservative and a liberal."

Perhaps the voters should be given that choice some day. But Goldwater v. Lyndon Johnson certainly won't do it. Goldwater is the beneficiary of whatever conservative trend has been running in the country, but he is far from being an articulate spokesman of a well-reasoned conservative philosophy, and the practicalities of the campaign have forced him constantly toward the middle. At the same time, who says Lyndon Johnson is a liberal? Certainly not the U.S. businessmen who so enthuse over his performance as President. And not the traditional labor and ethnic liberals, who are suspicious of him but have nowhere else to go at the moment. Of course, Lyndon owes his present position to the very fact that he was picked to be the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 1960 as a nonliberal counterbalance to Jack Kennedy.

Still, it is all but certain that thousands of Americans this year will let their opinions and their votes be shaped by one or another of these myths.

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