Posted on 02/19/2008 1:45:52 PM PST by bshomoic
Not exactly. Humphrey won the nomination fair and square, albiet through the unit rule that then prevailed in many state delegations, most specifically in the southern states. President Johnson kept most of the states in the Humphrey column as head of the party. Additionally, as vice president, Humphrey enjoyed enormous clout with Democratic operatives in many states, and he enjoyed tremendous labor union support.
Moreover, back in 68, there were many fewer primaries - and even the RATS back then had several winner-take-all primaries. For example, just prior to his assassination, Robert Kennedy captured 170+ delegates from California with his plurality win over Gene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey.
The main primaries back then were New Hampshire, West Virginia, Indiana, Maryland, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Oregon, California, New Jersey and New York. Most states had caucuses and state conventions to select delegates.
Humphrey, of course, was the only plausible candidate once Kennedy was killed. Had he not been killed, Kennedy had won in many primaries but was not likely to win the nomination in Chicago. Both McCarthy and Kennedy preferred Humphrey to the other. What is significant is that had Kennedy not been killed, the minority plank on Vietnam would not have been defeated at the Convention, which was a key factor in the violence that ensued.
Absent this violence, we’ll never know if a Humphrey-Kennedy ticket would have defeated Nixon in November. It was a very close election, with labor and the bombing halt nearly pulling off a Humphrey win.
A good source on the 1968 nomination process, specifically including the delegate formulae, is The Making of the President 1968 by Theodore White.
What is the going price for a $uperdelegate these days?
“All the rules will be going out the window.”
Typical Clinton thinking. The Clintons don’t play by the rules. They do whatever they want, regardless of right or wrong.
The hypocrisy is overwhelming. The dems complained when Bush lost the popular vote but won by the Electoral College. Now the Hillaryites are blocking the popular vote because their beloved Hillary is losing.
That is exactly right, and it is the democrat playbook through and through. Change the rules if you need to; throw the rules out if you need to; repeat until you find a scenario where you win.
“Translation: Now the real cheating and ball kicking begins!”
From Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid:
Butch Cassidy: No, no, not yet. Not until me and Harvey get the rules straightened out.
Harvey Logan: Rules? In a knife fight? No rules.
[Butch immediately kicks Harvey in the groin]
Butch Cassidy: Well, if there aint’ going to be any rules, let’s get the fight started. Someone count. 1,2,3 go.
Sundance Kid: [quickly] 1,2,3, go.
[Butch knocks Harvey out]
Flat Nose Curry: I was rooting for you all along, Butch.
Butch Cassidy: Well, thank you, Flatnose. That’s what sustained me in my time of trouble.
For Butch, substitute Hillary (no pun intended, but I’ll take it); for Logan substitute Osamabama; for Sundance substitute Bill Clinton; and for Flat Nose Curry substitute John Edwards.
The ends justify the means.
This is just great. Watching this is like going to a movie to which your wife dragged you, and it turns out to be in your top 5 all-time favorites.
LOL. I LOVE CHURCH LADY. :-)
Isnt it great to have the Clintons exposed by their own? Been a real eye opener for a lot of democrats.
You'd come back to your dorm room after class and all your stuff would be gone.
Had Hillary been simply coronated as originally expected, she'd be saving this stuff for the general election when nobody other than us unimportant Republicans would care.
With this being a Dem vs Dem deal, the MSM and others are forced to pay attention.
We’re seeing an old-fashioned democrat lynching via the ballot box. Riots anyone?
Great post. Thank you. I was too young to understand the details back then. I had frankly forgotten that the Humper was VP. I liked him, he reminded me of Bob Newhart, kind of. We were a Democrat family. I liked Bobby, though my parents said he wasn’t the man his brother was.
I had forgotten that state legislatures picked delegates. Guess those were good days to be a state legislator.
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