McGovern '92?

[Former Senator Haslam2020]

What would happen if George McGovern did decide to run for president in 1992? How far would he get in the primary? Give a map for a general election too!

[NeverAgain]

Worse than in '84. AKA No where.

[Kingpoleon]

Maybe he convinces Harkin not to win, netting himself Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, the Dakotas, and maybe Wisconsin before dropping out. Washington, Oregon, and Vermont may be up for grabs, as well.

If McGovern does well and drops out, who does he endorse? Jerry Brown? Paul Tsongas?

[Bones]

He'd get nowhere in the primary, and if by some miracle he actually won it, he wouldn't carry more than a few states in the general.

[RC (a la Frémont)]

Political suicide for McGovern if he runs, party suicide if he gets nominated.

[Oppo]

He was actually polling quite high. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-brief-history-of-primary-polling-part-ii/

[SingingAnalyst]

McGovern did run in '84, but dropped out after finishing third in MA, the one state he had won in '72. (Trivia: McGovern did carry Cambridge, MA with 33% of the vote).

I cannot imagine he would have done any better in 1992. The nation was still in a conservative mood, despite the failing economy. The Dems did what they had to do to win: nominate a conservative-talking Southerner who favored the death penalty (Bill Clinton even oversaw an execution in AR during the campaign).

Say what you will about Bill (or Hillary) Clinton, but Bill Clinton was a masterful politician, perhaps the best in modern times, perhaps better than Nixon. He said what he needed to say to win, and did not come across as extremist or unreasonable or cold or uncaring in any way. The Dems were smart to nominate him.

McGovern, on the other hand, would be stuck with a radical/liberal (at a time when the word "liberal" was political poison) label that would result in him being shut out in the South (where he didn't even bother campaigning much in '72), and probably in MI and OH as well, even with Perot on the ballot.

Had McGovern somehow manage to win the nomination, he probably would have won MA, RI, VT, IL, WI, MN, CA, HI, and DC (and maybe one other state depending on his VP nomination). I don't see him winning anything else.

[libertpaulian]

McGovern did run in '84, but dropped out after finishing third in MA, the one state he had won in '72. (Trivia: McGovern did carry Cambridge, MA with 33% of the vote).

I cannot imagine he would have done any better in 1992. The nation was still in a conservative mood, despite the failing economy. The Dems did what they had to do to win: nominate a conservative-talking Southerner who favored the death penalty (Bill Clinton even oversaw an execution in AR during the campaign).

Say what you will about Bill (or Hillary) Clinton, but Bill Clinton was a masterful politician, perhaps the best in modern times, perhaps better than Nixon. He said what he needed to say to win, and did not come across as extremist or unreasonable or cold or uncaring in any way. The Dems were smart to nominate him.

McGovern, on the other hand, would be stuck with a radical/liberal (at a time when the word "liberal" was political poison) label that would result in him being shut out in the South (where he didn't even bother campaigning much in '72), and probably in MI and OH as well, even with Perot on the ballot.

Had McGovern somehow manage to win the nomination, he probably would have won MA, RI, VT, IL, WI, MN, CA, HI, and DC (and maybe one other state depending on his VP nomination). I don't see him winning anything else.

I'd even say IL and WI are doubtful.

[HomestarSB9]

In a world where he somehow gets the nomination, he wins nothing but D.C., Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Iowa.

[Kamala]

I feel bad about all of you guys attacking South Dakota's greatest citizen, but I agree with the general prediction that he would lose in a landslide to Father Bush.

But you have to admit, he would be the first truly good man to serve as president in a long time if he had won.

[Sir Mohamed]

LOL, he would have gone nowhere. 1% in the primary.

Now let's assume he got the nomination for a while, something like that would have been end result (are we still assuming Perot is still running?):

✓ President George Bush (R-TX)/Vice President Dan Quayle (R-IN): 376 EVs.; 40.9%
Former Senator George McGovern (D-SD)/Senator Al Gore (D-TN): 155 EVs.; 35.7%
Billionaire Ross Perot (I-TX)/General James Stockdale (I-CA): 7 EVs.; 22.4%

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Interestingly, he actually did consider it.