People have been arguing over just exactly when the Republican Party took its big turn to the right. Some say it was 1979 and The Reagan Years. Others site 1968 and the Nixon era and many say it was 1960 and the dawn of Goldwater.

My vote is for 1960. Yup. Fifty-two years - no recent phenomenon. Let's not feign shock.

So continuing my backward look at Politics and Presidential elections, I thought I would dig through the 1964 Republican Convention held in San Francisco. Just about everyone knows that convention by the Goldwater acceptance speech (the "moderation/extremism" one). But I thought I would run a clip from just after the final vote was tallied, giving Goldwater the nomination. This is from CBS News coverage featuring Walter Cronkite, Eric Severeid and a veritable who's who of CBS News notables of the day.

Cronkite and Severeid reflect on the vote and the phenomenon of Goldwater and what was going on with the Republican Party.

Eric Severeid: “You made an interesting observation Walter, it must’ve been hours ago Walter, I don’t even know what day it is anymore, that the word Liberal was not really used anymore by the middle-of-the-road/left-of-center Republicans, those from the East and the North. That they went to great efforts, all of them, here to establish their credentials as Conservatives. The word I suppose is Moderate these days . . .

Walter Cronkite: “They use Conservatives. Scranton used Conservative. Romney used Conservative . . .

Severeid: “Milton Eisenhower went to great effort to attach the label of Conservative to Governor Scranton. I don’t know where all of them will go now. Certainly Senator Keating has a problem and I’m not sure these . . .the effect of this Negro walkout, they’re leaving the party, not just leaving the Convention.”

The Convention was a turning point for a lot of Republicans, particularly the Moderate and Liberal wing. And while the Goldwater forces were hailing it as a victory, many were of the opinion this lack of diversity within the ranks was ultimately not a good thing for either party. Something which I suspect we're weathering through right now.

But there was a lot going on in that convention. Just prior to the commentary I left in a report from outside the convention of CORE pickets and the whole Civil Rights issue, causing many Blacks within the Republican party to bolt, not only the convention but the party itself.

Fascinating piece of history and certainly one element in the giant jigsaw puzzle of politics.

CBS News coverage of the 1964 Republican Convention for July 16, 1964.

News on this day in 1962 was seemingly all about conflict. As reported by NBC News On The Hour from November 23, 1962, stories concerning an aborted coup attempt in Argentina with the plotters arrested. Tensions between Yemen and Saudi Arabia were threatening to boil over at any moment. And an uneasy ceasefire had been in place since the 20th between India and China.

At home - the Congress Of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) was staging a series of sit-ins at two cafeterias and a movie theater in Greensboro. Arrests were made including that of a Chinese exchange student.

And 173 people had died so far on the nation's highways since the beginning of the Thanksgiving holiday.

And that's what November 23rd acted and sounded like in 1962.

If you happened to have fallen out of bed today and found yourself in the middle of Manhattan and the year just happened to be 1964, this is what you'd be hearing about if you turned on WNBC AM and FM and caught The 6:30 New York News Special.

C.O.R.E. (Congress Of Racial Equality) had scheduled a mass Stall-In for opening Day of The New York World's Fair. Civil Rights demonstrations were going on seemingly everywhere, especially at schools. Mayor Wagner was issuing stern warnings to demonstrators who showed up to ruin the event, pointing out there were three detention centers set up to house over 3,000 arrests. Various Civil Rights leaders in the New York area, although not necessarily condoning the demonstrations weren't condemning them either. Meanwhile, last minute preparations were underway at the site of the World's Fair with some of the exhibits not quite on schedule to open in the morning. There was a subway fire between Times Square and Grand Central Station that reeked havoc with commuters with fears that 42nd Street was in danger of sinking due to fire damage to supports. Oh, and it was going down to 40 with rain predicted and a high on Opening Day in the low 50's.

Okay, you can come back to 2011 now.

And don't forget to drop off the odd penny, nickel or dollar on your way out.