I was a senior in high school when Barry Goldwater ran for president. I was active in his campaign in my hometown, Newport, Ky., a blue-collar community with a strong union presence.

Goldwater wasn’t an easy sell in Newport. But what I remember most vividly about 1964 is the intolerance of the activists on the left. The backers of LBJ were willing to use any means — fair or foul — not only to beat Barry Goldwater, but to destroy him. And they sought to stigmatize us, his supporters. As high-school kids, we were called fascists. I learned then that people who call other people fascists are usually embittered ideologues who fear any real expression of the popular beliefs of everyday Americans. In order to win that campaign, liberals told the American people that their opponents were not simply wrong, but actually wanted to take the country into nuclear war. Liberals charged that the GOP candidate was not simply mistaken but probably insane. They sought to silence by name-calling what they could not oppose by reasoned argument. And they largely succeeded — at least in 1964.