In the 1964 election, the Republican candidate, Senator Barry Goldwater, ran on a platform promising an aggressive foreign policy that would achieve a "total victory" over Communism (by which Goldwater presumably meant the Soviet Union and China). By contrast, Johnson sought to portray himself as just as "tough on Communism" as Goldwater while also portraying his opponent as a right-wing extremist who was likely to cause a nuclear war. The Republican slogan "In your heart you know he's right" was mercilessly lampooned by the Democrats with the counter-slogan "In your guts you know he's nuts!" In the context of the 1964 election, Johnson found the idea of a gradual process of escalating American involvement in Vietnam appealing as it allowed him to present both as a "tough" president while also less extreme than Goldwater. Rostow's consistent advocacy of a strategic bombing against North Vietnam as the decisive way to win the war endeared him to Johnson as it promised a "cheap" victory that would not cost too many American lives.     