Barry Goldwater

At the Republican National Convention this week, most of the buzz was over Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska), the first woman to be named as a Republican vice presidential candidate.

In the Maine delegation, this gave many a reason to remember former Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to be nominated for President on the floor of a convention.

In 1964, Smith placed fifth of nine candidates in the initial round of balloting at the Republican National Convention in 1964, with 27 of 1,308 votes. She refused to drop out for the second round of balloting, so Barry Goldwater’s nomination was not unanimous.

Joseph Biden is the seventh vice presidential nominee from a state that borders New Jersey since William McKinley picked New York Gov. Theodore Roosevelt to run on his ticket in 1900, following the death of Vice President Garrett Hobart, a resident of Paterson.  New Jersey hasn’t cast its electoral votes for a border state VP candidate since U.S. Rep. James Sherman (R-Utica) ran with William Howard Taft in 1908.  New Yorkers Jack Kemp (1996), Geraldine Ferraro (1984), William Miller, (1964), and Franklin Roosevelt (1920) did not carry New Jersey when they ran with Bob Dole, Walter Mondale, Barry Goldwater and James Cox, respectively.   Sherman ran for re-election with Taft in 1912 (he died a few weeks before the election, but Taft decided not to replace him), but New Jersey supported favorite son Woodrow Wilson instead.

Tony Schwartz, who was the head of Lyndon Johnson’s media in 1964, and creator of of the famous “Daisy” television ad died on Sunday. Schwartz created media for over 200 candidates including Johnson’s in 1964 and Jimmy Carter in 1976.

It was ten years ago today the father of the conservative movement passed away.  Barry Goldwater died May 29, 1998 at 89 years old.  Goldwater was often referred to as "Mr. Conservative" or the father of the modern conservative movement.

Who were the newly elected Senators of 1986? And How many of Barbara Mikulski's freshman colleagues are still there today?