On the Right

Miami Beach, July 11—There are those who say that the politics of George McGovern is a new politics based on great shifts in ideological sentiment. Professor Galbraith, using to be sure a kind of shorthand, says that the new issues are 1) global Communism, 2) the redistribution of wealth, and 3) economic growth. Concerning which the Democratic avant garde believes 1) that we have done quite enough of containment, 2) that we should have more of it; and 3) that it isn’t a cure to all human problems.

But there is something else in the McGovern Spirit, and it is quite countable here in Miami. It is the sense of absolute, total self-righteousness. It is manifestly intolerant of different opinions, and disposed, toward those who hold them, to dismiss them as cretins. It was worth noting, for instance, the attitude of typical young McGovernites toward Hubert Humphrey. They hate him.

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William F. Buckley Jr.

William F. Buckley Jr. founded National Review magazine in 1955.

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Presidential Election

William F. Buckley Jr.

Miami Beach, July 11—There are those who say that the politics of George McGovern is a new politics based on great shifts in ideological sentiment. Professor Galbraith, using to be sure a kind of shorthand, says that the new issues are 1) global Communism, 2) the redistribution of wealth, and 3) economic growth. Concerning which the Democratic avant garde believes 1) that we have done quite enough of containment, 2) that we should have more of it; and 3) that it isn’t a cure to all human problems.

But there is something else in the McGovern Spirit, and it is quite countable here in Miami. It is the sense of absolute, total self-righteousness. It is manifestly intolerant of different opinions, and disposed, toward those who hold them, to dismiss them as cretins. It was worth noting, for instance, the attitude of typical young McGovernites toward Hubert Humphrey. They hate him.