George McGovern on his 1972 presidential defeat

[DonViejo]

By George McGovern, Published: September 28

Losing to Richard Nixon in the 1972 presidential race was a significant personal setback — no doubt about it — but I have acknowledged it, absorbed it and integrated it into the rest of the long life I have been privileged to lead.

Before that race, I had survived 35 missions as a B-24 bomber pilot in World War II; married Eleanor Stegeberg, the love of my life; had five children; completed a PhD in history; and had a successful career in politics and government service.

Before my run for president, I had won all but one election: a 1960 bid to represent South Dakota in the Senate. This led to the opportunity to serve as U.S. Food for Peace directorin President John F. Kennedy’s administration, a position that ignited my passion for chipping away at world hunger. And I didn’t give up after that loss in 1960; I went on to serve in the Senate from 1963 to 1981.

When I announced that I was seeking the 1972 Democratic nomination for president, I was a relative unknown from a small state, but I had significant support among U.S. activists as an early and consistent critic of our policy in Vietnam. We ran a stellar campaign that became a model for later ones. For example, we made the delegate-selection process more inclusive of women, young people, minorities and other groups that had been under-represented. And my campaign was one of the first to use grass-roots, local organizing to mobilize voters.

Read more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-mcgovern-on-his-1972-presidential-defeat/2012/09/28/dded48fc-f78c-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html

[leveymg]

1. McGovern had to run against the dirtiest political machine in US history - Nixon's Plumbers and the

GOP Regulars. George is an astute and pragmatic politician who was abandoned to be eaten by the sharks by the Right-wing of the Democratic Party.

Sen. McGovern is often reviled for the outcome of Nixon's '72 landslide reelection. The Right-wing of the Party never forgave the Left for the disastrous '68 Convention that gave Nixon his opening, but some never accepted responsibility for Vietnam, either. But, it was the active sabotage by the Democratic Right and the vilification of the Left by the corporate media that really did in McGovern-Shriver.

Many of the Right went on become Reagan Democrats, and Clinton's mission was to tempt them back by moving policy in their direction. Clinton was handily reelected, but the Democratic Party continues to be dominated by corporate Center-Right, economic neoliberals and neocons.

Money, media control, and corporate backing now wins elections. George McGovern had principles.

[grantcart]

2. Worked for him and voted for him in my first election.

Saw him and met him but I find this bit a little astonishing;

But when election night came and the early returns revealed one of the most lopsided victories in U.S. history, I was genuinely stunned.

If that is true then he was the only surprised person in the country. After the Eagleton affair there was no doubt, just a question of how bad it was going to be.

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. I'm sure he knew he would lose, just not so badly

South Dakota had to be a real blow for him, and I'm sure he believed that the enthusiasm that was greeting him around the nation (his rallies were large and spirited) would translate into winning more than MA and DC. I still remember feeling crushed when McGovern cancelled a live election eve one hour broadcast to the nation that I was secretly pinning my unrealistic hopes on (it may or may not have been 60 mins, maybe it was 30 and maybe it was planned for a day or two earlier - can't remember those details so well). That told me that McGovern knew before the vote that there was no way he could win.

However I did have a good friend, a very bright college student at the time who was shocked when McGovern lost. He believed McGovern was going to have a solid win. Of course he also lived in Eugene Oregon at the time. Seeing his shock was my introduction to the concept of "living inside the bubble".

[grantcart]

7. The funny thing is for some reason Spokane WA was a great hot spot for him and he came

by 3-4 times it seemed. Huge crowds at the University but I had to wonder why he was spending so much time in such an insignificant place that normally votes very conservatively.

[oldhippydude]

6. second election for me...

voted HHH in 68... worked for Mc Govern, and the democratic ticket in 72... my campus minister friend (liberal) was running for congress, he got creamed as bad as George that year..

[Tom Rinaldo]

3. I met George McGovern while he was gearing up but befor getting the Democratic nomination

I was a college student and an anti-war activist. McGovern spoke at my University and was well received. He didn't rush off campus immediately. I and a small group of other activists had set up a tent as a protest focal point on a central grassy area central to the campus. After McGovern's speech we made it back there to reassemble. It wasn't too long after when we looked over to see George McGovern strolling over toward us, without staff. He greeted us, shook our hands, thanked us for our activism, and could not have been more gracious or sincere. He was very much a man of my father's generation, and he looked it. Unlike RFK there was absolutely nothing "cutting edge" about the way he manifest. He was heartland America, naturally at home in staid and conservative attire. We were every bit as straggly as any Yippie one might have encountered at the time. None of that mattered in the slightest. The connection we felt with George McGovern that day was as warm and natural as a family reunion.

That was the moment when I began to truly admire him, and nothing has happened since then to do anything other than deeper the admiration I still have for George McGovern. That brief meeting taught me something deep and very important on a level that penetrated well beyond words. Remember, those were still the days of the "anti-establishment" "counter culture". I may not have admitted it consciously at the time, but I was subtly alienated from people who came across to me as mainstream and traditional in appearance and lifestyle. George McGovern was a light year.away from me in conventional experiences, and a massively significant generation removed from my late 60's centric world view, But I knew he was my brother none the less, and from that moment on I never viewed the world as narrowly again.

[leveymg]

5. I had the same warm personal response to him when we chatted briefly in a bank line

It was about 20 years ago in DC at a small bank in the K Street-Connecticut Avenue area. I stood behind a tall, lean man who looked to be in his late sixties in the teller line. From behind, in his business suit, he looked like any other senior partner in a Washington law firm or PR shop. He turned his head, and I recognized him. I told him that I wished I had been old enough to vote for him in '72, and chatted amiably for a minute or two. He seemed an unusually astute and very sincerely nice and open person.

The world would be a FAR better place if he had been President.

[bemildred]

8. McGovern did a lot of good, those delegate selection changes are still filtering through

our electoral process. We take them for granted now, but those of us who were there remember that McGovern would never have got the nomination if not for the debacle in Chicago in 1968 and "Clean Gene".