Goldwater Republican

English

Etymology

Dating from 1964 in the United States, the year Barry Goldwater tried unsuccessfully for the office of president.

Noun

Goldwater Republican (plural Goldwater Republicans)

1. (US politics) A member of the Republican Party whose policies resemble those of Barry Goldwater, including support for the smallest government possible at the federal level, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, an internationalist, neoconservative, and anti-communist foreign policy, as well as social libertarianism.
   • 1964 July 12, “Republicans: The Man on the Bandwagon”, in Time‎^[1]:

     For months he insisted that he did not want the nomination, would not seek it, and would only reluctantly accept a genuine draft. Despite Scranton's repeated statements, it was behind him that anti-Goldwater Republican leaders late last week tried to rally—and Scranton showed signs of acquiescence.

   • 1994 March 24, Timothy Egan, quoting Tom Paniccia, “Goldwater Defending Clinton; Conservatives Feeling Faint”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     "A lot of people who think of themselves as Goldwater Republicans do not know what it really means to be a Goldwater Republican," said Tom Paniccia, a former Air Force sergeant who was discharged from the military last year after he had proclaimed his homosexuality. "He has always had a near libertarian stance on keeping government out of people's lives."

Coordinate terms

• Goldwaterian