Linda Alexander's LA Talk Radio Interview

[Dianne]

Linda,

You handled this very well & clarifed to the co-hosts that Bob's testimony was reluctant, he did not call anyone a Communist, & it was entirely separate from the infamous McCarthy hearings in the early 50s. I got the impression from your book that he was asked to run for Governor of California (not President) before Ronald Reagan was asked but turned it down (as you explained in your book & reiterated in your interview) because of his failing health & the additional bad publicity it might bring to his family, already troubled by his stepchildren's drug problems & arrests. He probably would have won the Governorship, but as we now know, he would have died during his first term as Governor & not have been around later to run for President.

I was a huge Barry Goldwater supporter & did some volunteer work for his campaign in 1964. One of my college classmates, a political science major, had interned during the summer of our junior year in Goldwater's Washington office, & she invited him to speak on our campus. I attended his speech & became an instant supporter, perhaps because my parents were conservative Republicans. Three years later I also became an instant political fan of Ronald Reagan because of the way he went to bat for Goldwater, who was so villified during his campaign for President -the most extreme example being the TV ad with the little girl picking daisies; then a mushroom cloud appeared in the background.

I wound up not voting for Reagan, however, because of his opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment for women & his acceptance of the Republican Party's platform that included a constitutional amendment against all abortion. Would I have voted for Robert Taylor if he had the same positions as Reagan? Of course - could never have voted against him!

I am still a fiscal conservative, social liberal & found the prospect of John McCain dying in office & being succeeded by Sarah Palin absolutely appalling, so I voted for Obama, who is more liberal than I am but I honestly don't think he is a socialist, & certainly not the Antichrist that some people fear.

[Linda Alexander]

Dianne: Thx for taking the time to listen to my interview. I do appreciate that. I think it's important to flush out all the misconceptions about Bob Taylor that are still prevalent out there, & I always return to his politics as being the major reason that he isn't still known in the same light as Reagan (even discounting his presidency), Cooper, Wayne, etc, etc.

And as usual, Dianne, you are extremely observant! ; > An interview like that is obviously live & you answer what's asked of you as it's asked. I had an idea of the gen'l outline, but my answers were automatic & instantaneous. With that--I goofed, apparently (& didn't realize it 'til now)--& said "president" rather than "governor" regarding Taylor's being asked to run for that office before Reagan. You are correct ... it was governor, obviously, & not president. I'll happily correct that @ any time.

Politics are a red flag, just about anywhere & w/everyone. It's no oddity, then, that Bob's politics were a dividing line for him since he was so very big in the public eye. I saw Barbra Streisand on TV in an interview this AM. I think she's extraordinarily talented & love to watch her work--singing & acting--but I don't like her persona & what she puts out personally. My opinion, no one else's, but that sort of thing really does affect how someone is perceived in the public eye.