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Again, some Republicans fear that the civil rights views that make Goldwater so popular in the South would work against him in the North. Goldwater's backers reply that the G.O.P. need not worry too much about losing the big-city Negro vote, since the party doesn't have that vote anyway. And they note the possibility of a big-city backlash by low-income whites resentful of Negro gains in jobs, housing and education. In Philadelphia, a recent poll indicated that 11% of the Democrats had switched to the G.O.P., mostly because of the civil rights issue.
The question that frets many Republican leaders most of all is whether Goldwater is merely a one-sentence candidate whose oversimplified views would not stand up under the intense heat of a presidential campaign.
The answer is still out. About all that can be fairly said is that Goldwater's views, oversimplified as they may seem, have taken him a long way so far.