“If he was going to go back to being the clown he always is, why did he even give a speech or bother going to Dayton and El Paso?”

BD, I think it came down to this. Some folks in his inner-circle panicked and advised him to do it for two main reasons. First: They’re worried about losing some Trump voters who may very well be on the verge of turning on him – having finally had Enough of this Hatefest/and sh*tshow known as the “Trump presidency.” Second: They’re worried about down-ticket Repubs pols in swing districts who may be at serious risk of losing their seats in the next elections.

In short: It was a pitiful attempt at damage control by trying to make the guy seem…well…human.

And of course it Failed!

It seems like Goldwater had it right. Christians use to kill black people in the name of God, now they are backing a phony like Trump in the name of God. They don’t really care about religion. All they care about is making up their own rules and looking down on everybody else that does not follow what they say.

I also wanted to add……….

Although {Goldwater} had supported earlier civil rights legislation, he notably opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as he believed it to be an overreach by the federal government. […]-Wikipedia

And even he wanted no more dealings with right-wing Christians.

“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.” – Barry Goldwater

(as quoted by John Dean in his book, Conservatives Without Conscience, Nov. 1994).

This is the foolish (and at times deadly) consequences of mixing religion and politics.

There’s a lot to be said for the Separation of Church and State. Unfortunately, the Republican party cynically threw that idea out the window with reckless abandon in the backlash to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1968.

Sen. Barry Goldwater, of Arizona (a staunch Repub conservative) tried to warn his beloved GOP -Don’t. Do. It.

He knew it was folly to climb into bed (if you will) with Any religious group and specifically pointed to Conservative right-wing Christians. He knew It could most certainly have catastrophic ramifications and eventually lead to the destruction of the GOP.