The Future of the Elephant To read Robert Donovan's book
on The Future of the Republican Party (Signet Press, 5s.) is enough to give any sort of Conservative the horrors. From John F. Kennedy's paper-thin majority in 1960, Mr. Donovan sees Democrats occupying the White House until Robert or Edward Kennedy retires in 1988. And, as Lord Beaverbrook used to say, 'for why?' Because of the sad dream down the years that true Ameri- cans would rally to a man who offered them the stern conservatism of the pioneers. The frightening part of the Goldwater debacle is that the dream lives on. The failure is attributed not to Goldwater himself, much less to his policies, but to the lack of enthusiasm in the campaign of the moderate element of the GOP. The tragedy of the Cow Palace was that the weak- ness of the platform allowed the floor to take control. The lesson, surely, is plain by now. One cannot command the centre from the right of the right any more than one can from the left of the left.
QUOODLE
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