Nation: Communism & Corruption

According to close associates, Barry Goldwater had become almost fatalistic about the outcome of the election. "If they don't want us," he said, "they don't have to take us."

But, as the campaign neared its close, he still thought he might have two issues that were worth plugging away on: Communism and corruption.

Although the overthrow of Nikita Khrushchev and explosion of a nuclear device by the Communist Chinese were undoubtedly the sort of events that would work toward the election of Lyndon Johnson, if only because he is an incumbent President and therefore more experienced, Barry took to the attack anyway.

Simplistic Sense. His televised appearance sometimes seemed like A Child's Garden of Communism: as he talked about the new Russian B. & K. team-Brezhnev and Kosygin-the screen flashed pictures of the pair that must have been at least 20 years old and looked like something out of a police lineup.

But on paper, Goldwater's speech made some sort of simplistic sense. "The foreign policy of the present Administration-based on a belief that there are 'good' and 'bad' Communists -has been an utter failure," he said. "It has failed to halt the march of Communism and the testing of nuclear weapons and the spread of nuclear power through the Communist world. This policy, if 1 may call it that, has instead helped the Communist world through a time of trouble and allowed it to emerge as a greater threat than ever to the freedom of the West."

The new Russian leaders, charged Barry, are doubly dangerous to the U.S. in their apparent determination to patch up differences with Red China. Said he: "This Administration once faced an enemy plagued with disunity and trouble, and it followed a policy that brought back unity and greater strength." In Pikesville, Md., Goldwater cried: "We bailed our Communist enemy out of a serious economic crisis with that wheat deal and with our aid. Instead of letting the Soviet Union and the Communist world stew in their own trouble, we actually bailed them out."

"And? And? And?" But Goldwater still believes that national "immorality" under a Democratic administration is his hottest issue. At the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, he lambasted Democrats as the "party of the fast buck and the slow investigation." In Pikesville, he told a thousand $100a-plate diners: "To the temporary President, running a country means twisting arms and banging heads together. It means buying and bludgeoning voters. It means getting a TV monopoly in his home state and building a private fortune. It means surrounding himself with companions like Bobby Baker, Billie Sol Estes, Matt McCloskey . . ." At that point, Barry paused; the audience, fully expecting to hear the name of Walter Jenkins, shouted, "And? And? And?" But Barry finished his sentence, ". . . and other interesting men."