I'd say a mix of that, Goodwater's opposition to civil rights legislation and a desire of the Dems to carry on JFK's legacy.
Johnson championed his passage of the Civil Rights Act, and advocated a series of anti-poverty programs collectively known as the Great Society. Goldwater espoused a low-tax, small-government philosophy. Although he supported previous attempts at enacting civil rights legislation in 1957 and 1960, Goldwater opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, saying it violated individual liberty and states' rights.
Democrats successfully portrayed Goldwater as a dangerous extremist, most famously in the "Daisy" television advertisement. The Republicans were divided between its moderate and conservative factions, with Rockefeller and other moderate party leaders refusing to campaign for Goldwater. Johnson led by wide margins in all polls during the campaign.
Johnson carried 44 states and the District of Columbia, which voted for the first time in this election. Goldwater won his home state and swept the five states of the Deep South, due to the Democratic Party's strong support of civil rights and desegregation.
Several southern states had not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since the end of Reconstruction in 1877. This was the last election in which the Democratic Party won a majority of the white vote, with 59% of white voters shunning Goldwater for Johnson. This was the last election in which the Democratic nominee carried Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,[a] Kansas, or Oklahoma, and the only election ever in which the Democrat carried Alaska. This marked the first presidential election in history in which a Democrat carried Vermont, and conversely, the first in which a Republican carried Georgia.
This was also the last election until 1992 in which the Democrat carried California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, New Hampshire, or Vermont, as well as the last election until 2008 in which the Democrat carried Virginia or Indiana. As such, this was the most recent presidential election in which the entire Midwestern region voted Democratic. As of 2023, this marks the last time that a Democratic presidential candidate has won more than 400 electoral votes.
Johnson's landslide victory coincided with the defeat of many conservative Republican congressmen. The subsequent 89th Congress would pass major legislation such as the Social Security Amendments of 1965 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The 1964 election marked the beginning of a major, long-term re-alignment in American politics, as Goldwater's unsuccessful bid significantly influenced the modern conservative movement. The movement of conservatives to the Republican Party continued, culminating in the 1980 presidential victory of Ronald Reagan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_United_States_presidential_election
Almost exactly a year after the election we as a nation DID go into the dark.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
