Tag: George McGovern

George McGovern: Everyone Remembers Their First Time

I proudly waited a few hours at the Mallard Creek 2 polling station in Charlotte for my exercise in futility.

As it is today, in 1972 our country was extremely and angrily divided. We were in Vietnam. Our losses were vividly shown nightly on the evening news. There was a huge pushback, especially from those of draft age.

“I`m fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.” – George McGovern

George McGovern is near death. That’s sad. McGovern’s run for president in 1972 was a milepost in my life. How could he lose so badly when everyone I knew was voting for him? I guess I was pretty naive back then.

McGovern got creamed!

As the Democratic candidate he only won 17 electoral votes (Massachusetts and D.C.) . Incumbent President Richard Nixon won 520. Nixon got nearly 97% of the electoral votes and 61% of the popular votes.

This was my first vote. The legal age of majority was 21 back then. I proudly waited a few hours at the Mallard Creek 2 polling station in Charlotte for my exercise in futility.

As it is today, in 1972 our country was extremely and angrily divided. We were in Vietnam. Our losses were vividly shown nightly on the evening news. There was a huge pushback, especially from those of draft age.

I didn’t see it at the time, but McGovern was much too liberal for America.

From Wikipedia: McGovern ran on a platform that advocated withdrawal from the Vietnam War in exchange for the return of American prisoners of war and amnesty for draft evaders who had left the country. McGovern’s platform also included an across-the-board, 37 percent reduction in defense spending over three years.

In addition, McGovern supported ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

His leanings made him the underdog even before the Eagleton problem.

Just a few weeks after the Democratic convention it was revealed his running mate, Senator Thomas Eagleton, had received electroshock therapy for clinical depression during the 1960s. Though McGovern pledged he was “behind Eagleton 1000%,” a few days later he was ditched for Sargent Shriver.

The public never forgave him.

My support for Senator McGovern was based nearly 100% on his antiwar stance. Fiscal issues like taxes didn’t resonate with me. After all, in 1972 I was making $200 a week.

I didn’t think we belonged in Vietnam. I knew I didn’t belong in Vietnam! If there was a reason we were fighting, I couldn’t see it.

McGovern lost. Nixon won. And the rest… well you know. Nixon had Watergate and resigned before finishing his second term.

I thought McGovern was a decent, honest man. Even before Watergate I sensed Nixon was not. I voted with my heart.

We need more men of honor like George McGovern.

Rush Needs A McGovern Moment

If Rush had said something once, maybe. That’s not what happened. He slammed her for three consecutive days.

I have been on radio or TV all of my adult life. I have said my share of stupid regrettable things on-the-air. As far as I remember they were all inadvertent. I don’t believe that was the case with Rush Limbaugh though he has apologized for his mistreatment of Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law student he called a slut and prostitute and from whom he requested sex tapes!

“For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.”

This was not a case of bad word choice. If Rush had said something once… maybe. That’s not what happened. He slammed Ms. Fluke for three consecutive days.

Under any circumstances it’s tough to understand how calling someone a slut and prostitute could be anything but a personal attack!

Rush is just part of the plague eating away at the Republican Party. This weekend on Meet the Press GOP strategist Mike Murphy lamented the troubles Republicans were seeing after our scorched earth primary season and some very loud, very socially conservative rhetoric.

On behalf of the Republican establishment, it’s about damn time because we want this thing to get over because we see those independent voters eroding as we scare the hell out of them with the histrionics of our primary.

Maybe it’s best for the Republicans to suffer the same fate Mitt Romney proposed for homeowners about to face foreclosure with underwater mortgages.

Don’t try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom. Allow investors to buy homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up. Let it turn around and come back up.

Here’s my tough love prescription. Republicans need to hit bottom as the Democrats did with George McGovern in 1972 (Nixon carried 49 states, McGovern carried Massachusetts and D.C.). They cannot exist as a mainstream party if they’re going to exist so far right of the mainstream.

I have many conservative friends some of whom read this blog. I am suggesting this for your own good.

Yes, America is loaded with conservatives. They’re just not that conservative!

As for Rush, his website this evening features an entry titled: “Don’t Worry, Folks: Advertisers Who Don’t Want Your Business Will Be Replaced.” He needs a McGovern moment too.