Sept. 23, 1964 - President Johnson said today that the U.S. faced a choice “between the center and the fringe.” He said voters should stand up and be counted to prevent the country from falling “into the hands of extremists of any stripe.”
It was the second straight day that Johnson had made remarks clearly aimed at his Republican opponent for the Presidency, Senator Barry Goldwater.
But, as has been the President’s custom since the campaign began, he named no names.
Johnson spoke to the annual convention of the International Union of Electrical Workers at the Statler Hotel in New York.
A New Year’s Eve spirit prevailed among the 1,500 union delegates just before the President arrived. Confetti and paper streamers filled the air, and most of the delegates wore red, white, and blue paper caps with the legend “LBJ and HHH for the U.S.A.”
But when Johnson began to speak, his manner was so solemn and his delivery so measured and slow that the audience was hushed.
He asked “reasoning and responsible men” to stand up and be counted because, he said, “the heart of our American way of life is under attack — and those who love it must go forth and save it.”
Johnson said the nation was “not presented with a choice of parties” and “not presented with a choice of liberalism and conservatism.”
“Americans are faced with a concerted bid for power by factions which oppose all that both parties have supported,” he said. “It is a choice between the center and the fringe, between the responsible mainstream of American experience and the reckless and rejected extremes of American life.”
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