In Your Heart You Know They’re...Independent?

On a recent Friday night at a hip Union Square restaurant in New York City, I met CC Goldwater, a close family friend. In her signature slacks and coat, she had spent the day going from one television studio to another to speak about her grandfather, Barry Goldwater, and her Emmy-nominated documentary, Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater, just released on DVD.

In 1960 Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.), published his manifesto, Conscience of a Conservative. The book sold an astounding three million copies before the dawn of chain bookstores. Four years later, the five-term senator ran for president with Rep. William Miller (R-N.Y.) who gained fame as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, as his running mate. Although Goldwater lost the election, his platform became what many believed was the birth of a new conservatism.

The recent buzz about political dynasties has prompted CC Goldwater, granddaughter of the “Father of Conservatism,” and niece of California Rep. Barry Goldwater Jr., to run for president in 2008. And her running mate is none other than Stephanie Miller, William Miller’s daughter. The conservative blue-bloods have launched Goldwater/Miller 08 with the slogan, “Family name. No Skills. Just like W.”

CC Goldwater and Stephanie Miller, a radio personality who lives in California, did their homework before announcing their campaign.

In our exclusive interview about their campaign, CC Goldwater confided, “We went through legal and we did our due diligence…Stephen Colbert, of course, launched his campaign a week after we did because he’s a copycat and a little pansy guy…we’ve kicked Stephen Colbert out of the race — we’re intimidating everybody.”

CC Goldwater and her running mate have definite plans for victory and have already planned an Inaugural Ball, “We’re thinking about Chippendale dancers because they’d be cute, hot, fun…Goldwater food because we can get that for free — anything we can get for free, we take.” She will most likely wear “Patricia Field [Sex and the City’s fashion coordinator]…something really bouncy & short…fun when you don’t wear underwear.”

After the inauguration, the domestic agenda includes Karaoke night every Sunday night at the White House, and, to shake things up a bit, Goldwater slipped that she might consider repainting the White House — something less boring. Their foreign policy is equally innovative.

“Our State Dinners will be phenomenal. Our idea would be to party these people into oblivion…and see who will be the last man standing,” she said.

Both Goldwater and Miller have been busy gathering support for their campaign on their weekly radio show, “Ask Goldwater/Miller,” and through personal appearances. Over 350 people attended their last rally, which Goldwater described as, “lots of lesbians, [and] one guy showed up with an aluminum cowboy hat.”

One of the most startling revelations of the year came in Goldwater’s documentary on her grandfather, when Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), another 2008 presidential candidate, confessed that she had been changed for life by Barry Goldwater and had herself been a “Goldwater Girl.”

“Hillary Clinton grew up in a very Republican family and in a very Republican environment,” CC Goldwater explained, and said that though the former First Lady is now a Democrat, she could still be helpful to their independent ticket.

“When Hillary doesn’t win, the country is going to need other Goldwater girls…we will ask Hillary to be our substitute president when we go and get our hair and nails done…we can give her directions about how to feed my dog.”

Although the campaign is really a publicity stunt, there is a serious side. CC Goldwater has been working very hard to maintain her grandfather’s legacy, and in addition to the movie, she edited a new edition of her grandfather’s seminal Conscience of a Conservative, which was re-released by Princeton University Press this year.

She affirms that the reason that she is running as an Independent is that Barry Goldwater, widely accepted as the founder of the neo-conservative movement, would actually “be very offended by it. He would not recognize the Republican party today. He would not understand where it shifted...the Christian Right and what the president is doing to our civil liberties.” She continued, “He did not believe in big government interfering in our lives and he definitely believed in the separation of church and state. He was for small government and for people making their own decisions about their own lives.”

For all of the acclaim and appropriation by the far right, would Barry Goldwater be elected in 2008?

“In 1964 I don’t think people were ready for him," she said. "I think we need him in 2008.” Which party would he run on? Goldwater insists, “He would not run as a Republican today…he would run as a libertarian…a libertarian upholding the Constitution.”

CC Goldwater’s real message and goals are twofold: “To remind people about what Goldwater and Miller were all about and to encourage young people to be proactive and part of a system that is non-existent to a younger demographic. A lot of young people just don’t care and they should…they should get out and participate,” advised Goldwater, whatever their political affiliations may be.

Even if they don’t vote Goldwater/Miller in 08.