Just in case you didn't know how unpopular Sen. McGovern was in 1972

[PCIntern]

He lost New York State by way more than a million votes. The same for California...more than a million.

To Dick Nixon.

I rest my case...this country was and is in a lot of trouble.

[Xipe Totec]

1. Spell it out for me.

Before you rest your case,

Tell me, how does McGovern in 1972 apply to the present election?

And how does that imply that the country is in a lot of trouble today?

[PCIntern]

3. He's dying.

On edit...if ny and ca can go for that prick Nixon by that margin, then anything goes.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Cali was a red state mostly back then

California started to turn blue later in the decade...it was also a much whiter state.

[WinkyDink]

2. Eagleton. Incumbent President with a "secret plan to end the war." Youth protests.

"The Greatest Generation" turned on their children, big-time.

[RKP5637]

8. They willingly sent their children to die while singing "my country right or wrong." n/t

[WinkyDink]

24. Yep. Child sacrifice: It's not just for the ancients.

[msongs]

4. murdering people with drones was not his style nt

[upi402]

5. I'm grieving already

Water in the eyes a couple times

[PCIntern]

7. He was a great man...a great American. Nt

[burrowowl]

26. Me too!

Damn them!

[DesertFlower]

6. i remember it well.

i couldn't believe it.

[panader0]

9. Not unpopular with me. He was my first vote.

[PCIntern]

15. Mine too...

Went out into Rochester inner city to get the vote out. No luck.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

30. And mine!

[rurallib]

16. Mine also. Thinking of him today

he is (or was) a great man.

[NoPasaran]

10. That election was that shocking realization that the good guys don't always win

I was young. I was idealistic. I was sixteen.

[northoftheborder]

11. I remember it well. Still don't understand it. Viet Nam in full battle. nation still in war mode.

[Astazia]

12. George McGovern was my hero in 1972!

In 1972 I was 16.I lived in San Diego. I couldn't vote but remember being all about McGovern. My dad was for George & as I look back, that was the first year I got into politics. I will always hold Senator McGovern high on my class act list.

[spanone]

13. i voted for him.

[ruffburr]

14. George was a man of peace-

A man of peace and dignity who stood for what was right at all costs, And thats all i have to say about that, God Bless you George!!!

[Curmudgeoness]

18. I agree. He was my first vote, first candidate that I believed in,

and first time I was so disappointed in the electorate.....not the last time but definitely the deepest.

That he was so dignified was why he lost. How can you go up against a man like Tricky Dicky and win when you have scruples!

[Chemisse]

17. He had already been declared the loser by the media when California voters were heading to the polls

That discouraged a lot of people from voting and may be the reason for the skewed results there.

That election spurred the creation of a new policy for tv news outlets that is still observed to this day, to never call a race until the polls have closed.

[oswaldactedalone]

20. I thought it was the Reagan Carter race

that led to this policy. The race had been called for Reagan before West Coast polls closed and there were interviews with people who were walking away from the line at the polling place, saying why vote when the race is over. Problem was it was influencing statewide races.

[Chemisse]

22. Looks like you are right!

Funny how memory works (or doesn't work). At the time the policy was made, I probably thought a lot about the McGovern loss, and wound up remembering it that way.

[OldDem2012]

19. McGovern was swiftboated before it was even a word. Most Americans fell for it...

...and we all got Watergate in return.

I'm proud to say he was my first vote.

[Chemisse]

23. I was a couple of days shy of my 18th birthday

But wanted to vote for McGovern.

[flowomo]

21. "Don't blame me. I'm from Massachusetts."

I had that bumper sticker for years. I was from Mass at the time.

[stevenleser]

27. Republican Presidential candidates were still marginally sane then and actually knew something

All the same, Romney's ability to lie with a straight face reminds me of tricky Dick.

[Greybnk48]

28. I voted for him.

It was like pissing in the wind at that point in time.

[upi402]

29. I heard Raygun won as I dragged my butt to the polls after work

Sweaty, knuckles bleeding from hard work back then... The radio said Raygun had already won so I voted for Anderson in my first Presidential Election.

I had heard that Carter had something to do with McGovern getting cheated out of the nomination. Vaguely aware of that and feeling like supporting a 3rd party - even back then when the Dems really WERE an opposition party. So I voted for Anderson.

If McGovern had won we would NOT be in the mess we're in now.