Mar. 18, 1964 - Senator Barry Goldwater, castigating President Johnson and calling for victory in South Vietnam, wound up a successful tour of Northern California today. He flew to Los Angeles late today by chartered aircraft and will continue his California primary campaign in that city and in the San Diego area for the rest of the week. The primary will be held June 2.
The Senator took off for Southern California obviously pleased with the reception given his brand of conservatism and Americanism in the small towns and cities of the north.
At tiny Lampson Airport near Clear Lake this morning, Goldwater climbed on the platform of an old T-model truck and struck hard at President Johnson’s handling of the war in South Vietnam.
There is no longer a guerrilla war but a “battalion size” conflict there, he said, adding that the U.S. now was “faced with another South Korea.” The difference, Goldwater said, is that “this loss will be a far more costly loss than the humiliating defeat we have suffered in Korea. It will mean the loss of the whole of Southeast Asia.”
What is needed, he said later, is a clearly stated purpose.
“Why can’t we make up our minds to win down there?” he asked. “We never hear the President say we will win, he only says he will contain them.”
In general, Goldwater told the small but devoted crowd of 200 at Lampson Airport, “in the time since President Kennedy’s death, this country has gone downhill at a disastrous rate all around this world.”
Throughout his Northern California tour, the Senator seldom pulled his punches in referring to the President. To more than 600 fans who ate chicken pie at a luncheon in Auburn, Goldwater even lamented that Harry S. Truman was not still President.
“By golly,” he said, “you at least knew where we were going and what he was thinking. Today, you don’t know where President Johnson is going or what he’s thinking.”
