Nation: Peddler's Grandson

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Still, Barry needed to prove himself at the polling places, and California, the most populous state in the Union, with the last and biggest of the presidential primaries, was his opportunity. The Goldwater forces staked everything on California. Barry's volunteer workers swarmed through the state, covering every block in every important precinct, mailing out millions of campaign papers, setting out to contact each and every one of California's 2,890,000 registered Republicans. Goldwater won the primary by a mere 58,000 votes out of more than 2,800,000 cast, but it was enough. California was the moderates' Waterloo—and after June 2 nothing could stop Goldwater, including Scranton's belated candidacy, San Francisco simply made Goldwater's triumph official.