[AmishDude]

The first three paragraphs made me so embarassed for him, I didn't go on. Poor, delusional George McGovern.

[IncPen]

Denial: It ain't just a river in Egypt.

[ClearCase_guy]

I think McGovern's campaign in 1972 was ideal. I think he should be a role model for all Dems. It wasn't a fiasco, it was something that the Dems should emulate for decades to come.

[krb]

I think he actually makes some good points, and that frightens me.

I didn't realize he was a decorated bomber pilot in WWII.

[Deliberator]

"Most of his [Nixon's] negative television ads were designed to paint me as an extreme radical"

Talk about gilding the lily.

[Jimmy Valentine]

"Is the lesson of these campaigns that Midwestern liberals can never reach the White House?"

No, the lesson is that you and "tax their ass off" Mondale are losers who were and are so totally out of touch with America that nobody would trust you with this country's most important job.

Regards,

[DonQ]

There were SEVERAL major blunders in McGovern's 1972 campaign against Nixon.

Perhaps the worst was switching VP candidates -- Thomas Eagleton was apparently dumped for having gone to a psychiatrist ... nowadays we might wonder about a candidate who has not gotten treatment. Anyway, the switch undermined the public estimate of McGovern's ability as a judge of appointees, his loyalty, his decision-making (especially because he dawdled before making the wrong decision), and so forth.

Probably the second worst blunder was the scheduling of his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention. Somehow dozens of (liberal) pressure groups - Latino, African-American, anti-war, feminist, etc. etc. - persuaded McGovern and his people to give each of them a shot at national TV - in prime time, no less - (as if they would cross over to Nixon if they didn't get their way!!) so they were ALL alloted what was supposed to be no more than two minutes speaking time before McGovern's speech. At the very best this pushed his speech up to around 10 pm Eastern time. But, of course, none of these special interest spokemen could keep himself/herself down to two minutes, so McGovern made his acceptance speech ("Come Home America") past midnight to a half empty convention hall and a lot of cold TV sets. The most crucial speech of his campaign was a total FUBAR.

[Onelifetogive]

I wonder whether even a Jefferson or Washington could have defeated Ronald Reagan in 1984 or Nixon in '72.

This would indicate that he has ABSOLUTELY NO idea what Jefferson and Washington stood for. He should read some of their quotes... Those guys stood for individualism, freedom, self-reliance and opposition to a powerful federal government. Those guys couldn't win an election for dog-catcher these days, much less President!

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

Amazing. He doesn't even mention Tom Eagleton, his VP nominee who, it turned out, had had mental-health problems and had undergone electroshock therapy. McGovern said he was "one thousand percent" behind Eagleton, then dumped him. And a campaign that had been amusing since back in the primaries became a full-out laugh-riot. Meanwhile he was proposing totally clueless schemes like $1,000 monthly government checks to every American.

It's a pity, as McGovern is a very likeable guy, one of the very few politicians with a great sense of humor along with war-hero credentials. I would have enjoyed having him on "our side", if only. Alas, he drank the Kool-Aid of Kollectivism long ago. The fact remains that the Republicans have won against far worse humans than George McGovern. I'll take a George McGovern in the foxhole beside me over an Al Gore anyday.

(Of course, McG was running against a "Republican" who ended up imposing Federal wage-and-price controls, establishing the EPA, used the IRS against his political enemies, and tossing the last vestiges of the gold standard, so in all fairness it's hard to say which party ran the more statist candidate in that benighted election.)

[meandog]

McGovern was a 1972 version of Kerry...decorated war hero vs. not-so-decorated POTUS, then war protester, and champion of every liberal cause imaginable.

But he was hoisted on his own petard--Choosing nut-case Thomas Eggelton as veep then nut-case Sargent Shriver, followed by a disaster campaign full of flower-children. It will be interesting to see if Kerry follows suit. I suspect Kerry, though, a bit smarter, better politician, and it will be a closer contest...

[You Dirty Rats]

Anyone who cares what a candidate who lost 49 states to the man who made the "Checkers" speech is certifiable!

[miloklancy]

Actually McGovern does have a point in saying that he wasn't solely to blame for the Dems defeat in 1972. That year the Dems were still reeling from the chaos of 1968 and simply couldn't get it together. The Dems convention that year was the place, where they finally and narrowly got behind McGovern. Granted McGovern with his far left antics was unelectable and the fiasco with his first VP pick spending time in a mental institution clearly weakened his campaign, which ultimately forced McGovern to kick him off the ticket. But what one has to ask in all this, is why did Nixon have his cronies break into the Watergate Hotel, when it was so clear that the Dems were in absolute chaos that year?

[N. Theknow]

Any Democrat running against these heavily financed incumbent presidents would probably have lost

the old "We just didn't get our message out there and the EVIL Republicans had more money" excuse.

And we all know that excuses are like a$$holes - everybody's got one and they all stink.

What poetic justice it was when McGovern had a small business go belly up. He then stated he had no idea how many burdens the government placed on businesses and had he known he would have voted differently.

What a pathetic example of a Senator. And South Dakota hasn't done any better since.

[Finalapproach29er]

Sad to see a hero grasp to build himself up. Pity.

[Clintonfatigued]

Geoerge McGovern is one of the more sad figures of American politics. Here is this nice, decent, and well-meaning man whose ideas would have ruined the country if he had been elected to the White House. As a decorated WW2 pilot, his patriotism is beyond reproach. And there's also no question about his good intentions. But good intentions do not always produce good ideas. Does anyone remember, after his departure from politics, McGovern ran an inn or hotel, or something like it. It eventually went out of business, and McGovern admitted that he had no idea what it was to meet a payroll before then. Once again, he was a victim of his own naiveity. He lost the 1972 election because he IS a far-left extremeist, albiet an honest one with a good heart.

[Democratshavenobrains]

Ok its official. All living Democratic Presidential candidates are crybabies.

[dwd1]

I should have known it was you! :-)

[gg188]

I was there, George McGovern, and it WAS a fiasco.

[NYCVirago]

Critics also overlook my opponent's unprecedented campaign spending. Most of his negative television ads were designed to paint me as an extreme radical uninterested in the defense of the country. This even though I was a decorated combat bomber pilot in World War II, while Nixon was stationed far from battle.

McGovern is being a bit disingenous here. He himself didn't highlight his own war experience then, because his own party would have found it revolting. It wasn't until Ambrose's book many years later that most people even heard about his WWII experience.

[185JHP]

I remember the "Demogrants." An idea so nasty and so nutty it amazed me. And cemented my vote for RN.