From the beginning of the chapter:
While the scattered forces of American conservatism were struggling to find a voice of their own in the early 1950s, the country was swept by the political phenomenon which became known as "McCarthyism". For conservatives sharing the passionate anti-communism and the dislike and distrust of New Deal liberalism which Senator Joseph McCarthy so clearly catered to, it was obviously a strong temptation to hitch their emerging political movement to his bandwagon. How exactly did this rise – and ultimately the fall – of Joe McCarthy and his witch hunt for "subversive elements" affect the political and intellectual aspirations of the conservative movement? How did it affect the efforts to mobilize conservatives as an independent political movement? The following is an attempt to throw light on these questions.
...