Leave it to somebody else to offer fresh insights where your own vision gets pretty dim. I am routinely blown away by the reporting going on in other news outlets around the world. And how, maybe because there's not much vested interest, media outlets around the world are able to pull no punches in their coverage of a story, especially one that has so much to do with America and the American state of politics.

From the Rear Vision program on ABC Radio National in Australia comes this half-hour look at the Tea Party Movement in the U.S.; how it began, what are its roots and what are its objectives.

In a half hour they manage to cram in a lot of information about the state of Conservatism in the U.S. and present it in a way that offers information, rather than an opinion.

As it was broadcast on October 26, 2011, full and complete with no cuts.

Amid fears the Republican Party of 1964 was taking a sharp turn to the right, with the rise in popularity of Barry Goldwater, and all indications pointing to his nomination as the Republican Presidential candidate, much attention was being paid on that election year to the outcome of the Republican Governor's Conference, being held in Cleveland Ohio in June, 1964.

And it was the current state of the Republican Party in 1964 that was the topic of conversation on this episode of Meet The Press, first aired on June 7, 1964.

Interviewed were the Chairman of the Conference, Kansas Governor John Anderson and Host of the Conference, Ohio Governor James Rhodes. A number of subjects were discussed - where candidate William Scranton figured in this picture, the Rockefeller wing of the Party - how other Governor's were feeling about the current climate.

Interesting sets of questions and interesting answers, as was always the case in this early incarnation of Meet The Press.

Here is that entire program.

Continuing the look at Politics and Elections past, here is a portion of an NPR All Things Considered Special election broadcast on the occasion of Pat Buchanan winning the 1996 New Hampshire Republican primary.

Winning by one percentage point over Bob Dole, who refused to concede, the victory of Pat Buchanan signaled a further shift to the Right for the Republican Party. Buchanan, a staunch Social Conservative, advocated a kind of "lock and load" policy where Foreign Policy was concerned. Also was vehemently opposed to Roe V. Wade and was determined to overturn it. He was also anti-gay, anti-government and favoring an isolationist view of our place in the rest of the world.

Interesting and eerie parallels between the Buchanan of 1996 and the current crop of hopefuls.

Here is the broadcast from February 22, 1996 from All Things Considered.

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.

Since we've been knee-deep in debates the past several weeks, I ran across this rather local debate from 1965. The occasion was the Mayoral election for New York City and it was a three-way race between Abraham Beame, John Lindsay and William F. Buckley (yes, that William F. Buckley).

One of the more fascinating hours in local politics, to be sure. I forgot that Buckley had political aspirations and was the candidate of the Conservative Party of New York in this election. From the sound of it, Abraham Beame, the Democrat, was being ganged up on by his two conservative opponents, with Lindsay the Republican challenger.

Moderated by WCBS anchor Joseph Denbo and running on a tight schedule, this is a rare glimpse into local elections, particularly big city local elections.

Enjoy and marvel at Mr. Buckley.

This week's Talkshow is an Issues & Answers broadcast from September 1964. Hot on the heels of the upcoming General Election. This one features Democratic vice-Presidential nominee Sen. Hubert Humphrey, campaigning throughout the West, being interviewed while on a stop in New Mexico.

The issues in 1964 were bubbling under the radar for a while, most importantly our increasing involvement in Southeast Asia which, as of August and the Gulf of Tonkin incident, seemed to point in the direction of a drawn out and protracted war as well as the attempted coup that had just taken place before this broadcast.

But moreover was the issue of Barry Goldwater, the Republican Presidential nominee, and the dramatic shift to the right the party had taken since the mid-term elections in 1962. Goldwater represented the extreme wing of the party, which had been gaining ground in recent years, fueled by reaction to the Civil Rights movement and the staunch Anti-Communist base who still held the belief that the Red influence was still running amok in the government.

Sen. Hubert Humphrey: “It is my view that, when Sen. Goldwater speaks about the use of Atomic weapons as if they were little conventional weapons for example, and he says ‘let’s give those weapons, the use of those weapons and the control of them to the General in the field’, that he hasn’t thought it through. Or if he has thought it through then he has a very dangerous thought. There aren’t any conventional atomic weapons. The little weapons that he speaks about are presently in the possession of the United States Army in Europe, but are subject to the control of the President of the United States. These weapons are bigger than the weapon, the bomb that was used at Nagasaki. Now you don’t call that a little old conventional weapon. I feel that the Senator from Arizona has had some difficulty outlining a consistent position of Political philosophy and Political program. He votes against a tax bill and then a few months later he recommends a tax cut bill he voted against, the one that cut the taxes over $11 billion. A few months later he comes around and charges it as being a cynical and politically motivated gimmick and the he presents a tax reduction bill, a proposal of his at over 25%. One time he says we ought never to be in the United Nations. Another time he says he thinks the United Nations has some value. He’s one time condemned Social Security, a little bit later he will say ‘well, Social Security may be all right’. I don’t know how you would interpret this, but I would say that it is at least political instability, and in a President you need more firmness of purpose and more stability of position.”

Flip-flops appear to have some basis in history - we hear about them now, we heard about them then. 1964 no doubt signaled a change in the Republican party and in politics in general. Many people will contend it was this election that became Ground Zero for the ideological shift within our political system.

And they may have been right in that assumption.