In 1964, Republican challenger Barry Goldwater repeatedly demanded the opportunity to debate his opponent, President Lyndon Johnson, who (also repeatedly) declined. Frustrated by the inability to schedule candidates in a joint appearance, the Republican National Committee produced cardboard displays promoting instead “The Debate That Never Was.” The displays offered brochures like these with “answers” to issues that might have come up if Goldwater had been given the chance to debate the president. The brochures "debated” topics which played to Goldwater’s preferred campaign themes such as the economy, civil rights, foreign policy, and fighting communism. Short quotes pulled from President Johnson’s public statements were followed by longer answers from Goldwater, who explained he wanted to give voters “a real choice, a clear choice.”
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