JFK was a junior officer who showed courage under fire, and it helped him. (Reply #57)

In the discussion thread: 1972 McGovern campaign, what would you have done ? [View all]

Sat Oct 26, 2013, 02:24 PM

MADem (135,425 posts)

57. JFK was a junior officer who showed courage under fire, and it helped him.

He was running against Dick "In the rear with the gear" Nixon. Dick was actually senior to JFK in WW2 (Nixon left active service as an 0-4, LCDR, and was promoted to CDR in the reserves in the fifties), but it was JFK who saved his crew and was a "Profile in Courage," as it were.

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96 replies	Author	Time	Post
1972 McGovern campaign, what would you have done ? [View all]	steve2470	Oct 2013	OP
I voted for McGovern, and would again. However, if Bobby wasn't killed, he would have been the	lostincalifornia	Oct 2013	#1
I guess that's the classic conundrum, how to overcome media bias	steve2470	Oct 2013	#4
If Bobby hadn't been killed he would have been running for his 2nd term in '72	dflprincess	Oct 2013	#24
You are correct	lostincalifornia	Oct 2013	#26
No, a myth.	former9thward	Oct 2013	#47
I absolutely agree.	murielm99	Oct 2013	#52
Humphrey would have been the nominee regardless in 1968	book_worm	Oct 2013	#78
That's a lot of alternative reality being posited there.	WinkyDink	Oct 2013	#82
Yep. RFK in '68 and '72	MinM	Oct 2013	#90
You do realize these were different election years, 1968 vs. 1972?	WinkyDink	Oct 2013	#81
That was the first campaign I volunteered in	LiberalEsto	Oct 2013	#2
He did bring up Watergate. I remember the references in his speeches.	GreenStormCloud	Oct 2013	#11
Not enough. He was too "polite"	LiberalEsto	Oct 2013	#13
His own polling had shown that the public didn't care about Watergate.	GreenStormCloud	Oct 2013	#17
Watergate was not yet Watergate at the time of the election.	former9thward	Oct 2013	#48
We were in a war. Americans wanted a tough guy. N/T	GreenStormCloud	Oct 2013	#72
I was a precinct delegate and worked for McGovern.	longship	Oct 2013	#3
i voted for him.	spanone	Oct 2013	#5
So did I.	ANOIS	Oct 2013	#87
We worked our asses off for McGovern	Gman	Oct 2013	#6
Goldwater was crushed in 64, the right reorganized and 16 years later won it all.	Warren Stupidity	Oct 2013	#7
Won it all? In 1980 Democrats still held the House. N/T	GreenStormCloud	Oct 2013	#70
Sort of.	Warren Stupidity	Oct 2013	#75
He could easily have won the election...	catnhatnh	Oct 2013	#8
LBJ had too many skeltons in his closet to expose other people.	former9thward	Oct 2013	#49
You've forgotten Eagleton?	WinkyDink	Oct 2013	#83
I worked for Mc Govern and rang door bells and met people.	Stuart G	Oct 2013	#9
Me too and I gave more money than I could afford.	broiles	Oct 2013	#46
McGovern doomed himself.	GreenStormCloud	Oct 2013	#10
It was my first campaign supporting a Democrat.	grantcart	Oct 2013	#55
I had forgotten about that.	GreenStormCloud	Oct 2013	#71
Of all the things I have done in politics, the thing I am most proud of is working for McGovern.	chieftain	Oct 2013	#12
Historian Stephen Ambrose said McGovern didn't use his war record well	OmahaBlueDog	Oct 2013	#14
War records as a junior officer aren't much help.	GreenStormCloud	Oct 2013	#18
Being a bomber pilot in WWII took several good qualities	OmahaBlueDog	Oct 2013	#21
My father was a WWII veteran (Army).	GreenStormCloud	Oct 2013	#74
Air medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, 35 combat missions? He was a war hero (see post 27).	MADem	Oct 2013	#28
McGovern could have also used his bomber experience as an argument to end the war in Nam	OmahaBlueDog	Oct 2013	#31
Shrub could only beat Kerry by "swift boating" him--he had to tell lies about him.	MADem	Oct 2013	#33
Poppy Bush was an expert pilot, and a sorry president.	GreenStormCloud	Oct 2013	#68
Expert? He panicked, he bailed out and left his CREW to die!	MADem	Oct 2013	#79
They show that you won't send the peons to do something you wouldn't do yourself	Hippo_Tron	Oct 2013	#51
JFK was a junior officer who showed courage under fire, and it helped him.	MADem	Oct 2013	#57
And the 1960 election was razor thin.	GreenStormCloud	Oct 2013	#69
My Navy family preferred the "courage under fire" guy to the "In the rear With The Gear" guy.	MADem	Oct 2013	#76
He didn't use it at ALL. And he wasn't just an excellent pilot! He was a war HERO.	MADem	Oct 2013	#27
Listen to MaDem ^^	OmahaBlueDog	Oct 2013	#29
I'm proud to say that I campaigned and voted for him.	scarletwoman	Oct 2013	#15
Me too...my 1st vote.	Old and In the Way	Oct 2013	#62
I supported McCarthy in the primary but no nose holding was necessary for McGovern.	Tierra_y_Libertad	Oct 2013	#16
Gone back to the 1968 rules committee to not change voting rules so drasticlly	CatholicEdHead	Oct 2013	#19
THey should have leaked all the stuff about Watergate to the American public	gopiscrap	Oct 2013	#20
The Media covered up Watergate	RobertEarl	Oct 2013	#23
Watergate came about from the Media.	former9thward	Oct 2013	#50
I voted for George, lost because of Dem factualism, it was one nasty campaign.	CK_John	Oct 2013	#22
I will always be proud that the first vote I ever cast was for George McGovern. n/t	dflprincess	Oct 2013	#25
McGovern was my first presidential vote.	Blue_In_AK	Oct 2013	#30
Seems like only a few yrs. ago. Mailings. Door hangers,	Eleanors38	Oct 2013	#32
Talk about his military record and not pull any punches.	Deep13	Oct 2013	#34
McGovern was never going to win that election...	Drunken Irishman	Oct 2013	#35
I think that election, more than any election in the last 70 years, speaks to the issue of..........	steve2470	Oct 2013	#36
Yeah. I see it impossible unless Watergate blows up in '72 and even then...	Drunken Irishman	Oct 2013	#37
Ed Muskie wasn't going to beat Nixon, either though....	Hippo_Tron	Oct 2013	#54
Democrats stood little chance in '72.	Drunken Irishman	Oct 2013	#59
Edmund Muskie and George Wallace were only candidates CREEP was worried about...	MinM	Oct 2013	#85
Nixon was a paranoid nutcase, his worries were over nothing...	Hippo_Tron	Oct 2013	#91
The Canuck Letter	MinM	Oct 2013	#95
McGovern had a path to 270, certainly,	nyquil_man	Oct 2013	#38
great post, thank you	steve2470	Oct 2013	#39
This reminds me of something I saw years ago in a poli sci textbook.	nyquil_man	Oct 2013	#40
A lot of the Democratic establishment actively worked against him	eridani	Oct 2013	#41
National party types tend to be most concerned with keeping their own power.	bemildred	Oct 2013	#43
My point was that not all dissidents are treated equally	eridani	Oct 2013	#64
It's more of a threat.	bemildred	Oct 2013	#66
Greens, socialists and Democrats would have to be on the same side in order for	eridani	Oct 2013	#86
It depends on what your goals are.	bemildred	Oct 2013	#88
OK--not quite sure until now what point you were trying to make n/t	eridani	Oct 2013	#92
I am explaining why National Party types will NEVER support political insurgencies.	bemildred	Oct 2013	#93
I look at this in two ways...	Hippo_Tron	Oct 2013	#56
There's a degree of self-fulfilling prophecy in their actions.	nyquil_man	Oct 2013	#65
I voted for him, I still have buttons. I'd do it again.	bemildred	Oct 2013	#42
if America knew about the prairie populist, war hero, Methodist minister and history teacher that	Douglas Carpenter	Oct 2013	#44
I would have voted for McGovern in the general	treestar	Oct 2013	#45
Nixon was probably unbeatable	Hippo_Tron	Oct 2013	#53
Hunter Thompson said that McGovern lacked a "streak of Mick Jagger in his soul..."	First Speaker	Oct 2013	#58
Elections are too important to leave to the tepidness. Ask Dukakis...	Drunken Irishman	Oct 2013	#60
Well, I voted for him and campaigned for him in my	MineralMan	Oct 2013	#61
Ivoted for him(of course)but wrote him to drop out in primaries.A summary of the posts I agree with:	UTUSN	Oct 2013	#63
If I'd been American and old enough to vote, I'd have voted for McGovern - no doubt at all!	LeftishBrit	Oct 2013	#67
Don't know....	llmart	Oct 2013	#73
He probably wouldn't have won anyway, but...	book_worm	Oct 2013	#77
I voted for him. There was no way in Hades he was going to win. I think the result evidences that.	WinkyDink	Oct 2013	#80
That is easy - worked a booth at the fair and voted for him.	DURHAM D	Oct 2013	#84
kick for more discussion nt	steve2470	Oct 2013	#89
McGovern wanted to legalize marijuana and end the Vietnam War,	B Calm	Oct 2013	#94
The amount of crap pulled by the repugs in that election was staggering	marym625	May 2015	#96

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