Nancy Reagan: Torch Passed from Goldwater to Ronnie to Newt

Nancy Reagan:

"The dramatic movement of 1995 is an outgrowth of a much earlier crusade that goes back half a century. Barry Goldwater handed the torch to Ronnie, and in turn Ronnie turned that torch over to Newt and the Republican members of Congress to keep that dream alive."

Uh, oh! Lots of conservative pundits and establishment types will be scandalized. Though they make take solace in trashing Goldwater's heroic loss along with their speculation about Newt's chances of losing.

The real conservative champions, like William F. Buckley, Jr., backed Goldwater to the hilt and saw in his loss the seeds of later success (as Nancy Reagan does in this clip). But the new conservative wanna-be leaders never think long term or about building conservatism. It's all about the odds of winning an election. They would have been against Goldwater too and even Reagan (as some like George Will were for Bush or Baker on grounds of electability rather than Reagan in 1980).

Total thanks to William Jacobson!