The Republican convention came first at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Nelson Rockefeller was supposed to be nominated but then he got divorced and re-married. The job went to Barry Goldwater, a nice guy who was a ham radio operator and appeared on the Jack Paar show. At the convention they released gold balloons. The television commentators said the Republicans had fallen off a cliff.
The Democratic convention was held in Atlantic City. The sign on the wall of the Convention Center said "Let us continue". Mrs. Mills was a delegate and we tried to spot her on television but couldn't. Hubert Humphrey gave his famous "But not Senator Goldwater" speech. Johnson followed it up with his "And so do I" speech.
From reading this blog you can probably guess who I was for. Barry Goldwater. I loved being the conservative Republican of the family.
I got aid on this mission from an unlikely source. My mother invited some of her Texas kin-folk up for a few days and they were invited to a cook-out at the Mills. My mother's only male relative in the group went up to everyone and talked about why he liked Goldwater. "Johnson is serving up slop in a silver chalice. It is served up good but it's the same old slop. Now Goldwater is at least doing something to bring decency back to this country."
Johnson won the election. I didn't remain an arch conservative for long. After you get used to it, slop tastes good, if it's served up in a pretty enough plate.
Editors note: I changed the comments requirements so you can comment anonymously. So let's have some comments!
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