Jan. 8, 1964 - Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) toured the populous industrial heartland of southern New Hampshire today, preaching conservatism at coffee receptions in suburban homes. His audiences, mostly housewives and retired businessmen, sipped coffee and drank in the Arizonan’s attacks on the Soviet wheat deal, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the growth of big government. Mr. Goldwater, who heard President Johnson’s State of the Union message on a car radio, had an immediate comment. The President, he said, “out-Roosevelted Roosevelt, out-Kennedyed Kennedy, and even made Truman look like some kind of piker.” Mr. Goldwater told one gathering: “I can’t think of a single field in which Johnson is not going to move in and take more power over your lives and try to do things for you that you should be doing for yourselves. I don’t think when you read his message tonight that you can have any belief that Lyndon Johnson, by any stretch of the imagination, can be called a conservative. I think he has out-liberaled every liberal since 1932.”
New Hampshire holds the first Presidential primary of 1964 on March 10. Mr. Goldwater and New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller are the first declared candidates for the 14 national convention votes available in the Granite State. Earlier in the day, one young woman asked Mr. Goldwater if he welcomed the support of William Loeb, publisher of The Manchester Union-Leader and an often-controversial figure in New Hampshire politics. “I would welcome any support,” said Mr. Goldwater. The student shot back: “Do you agree with Mr. Loeb’s assertion that Governor Rockefeller is a ‘stupid liar and a wife swapper’?” Mr. Goldwater squirmed slightly and said: “Well, that’s pretty strong language. I would not use that kind of language.”
