Opinion of George McGovern

[© tweed]

go

[YRABNNRM]

Never did anything to convince me he's not a good man. Sure I disagree with him but definatly not a horrible person.

[Frodo]

Privately a good man.  Politically and as a role model for Democrats like jfern, a complete disaster for the Democratic Party. 

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Privately a good man.  Politically and as a role model for Democrats like jfern, a complete disaster for the Democratic Party. 

Lousy candidates aren't a role model for me, fool. Although obviously he would have been a good President. Ironic that the Democratic war heroes always are crappy candidates.

[© tweed]

Privately a good man.  Politically and as a role model for Democrats like jfern, a complete disaster for the Democratic Party. 

How was he an ideological disaster?  Vietnam was a disaster 13 years in the making when he made his calls for withdrawl.

[Frodo]

Privately a good man.  Politically and as a role model for Democrats like jfern, a complete disaster for the Democratic Party. 

How was he an ideological disaster?  Vietnam was a disaster 13 years in the making when he made his calls for withdrawl.

By illustrating to the entire country the fact that the Democratic Party could no longer be trusted to defend its interests abroad.  Carter's bungling during the Iran hostage crisis merely solidified this perception that was begun by McGovern's nomination by the Democratic Party.   

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Privately a good man.  Politically and as a role model for Democrats like jfern, a complete disaster for the Democratic Party. 

How was he an ideological disaster?  Vietnam was a disaster 13 years in the making when he made his calls for withdrawl.

By illustrating to the entire country the fact that the Democratic Party could no longer be trusted to defend its interests abroad.  Carter's bungling during the Iran hostage crisis merely solidified this perception that was begun by McGovern's nomination by the Democratic Party.   

The hostages were released on January 20th, 1981. Kind of convient timing for Reagan.

Now unlike Nixon's sabatoge of the 1968 peace talks, we don't have conclusive evidence that the Republicans delayed the release of the hostages to help win the election, but it's very likely that this was an October surprise.

[© tweed]

Privately a good man.  Politically and as a role model for Democrats like jfern, a complete disaster for the Democratic Party. 

How was he an ideological disaster?  Vietnam was a disaster 13 years in the making when he made his calls for withdrawl.

By illustrating to the entire country the fact that the Democratic Party could no longer be trusted to defend its interests abroad.  Carter's bungling during the Iran hostage crisis merely solidified this perception that was begun by McGovern's nomination by the Democratic Party.   

Yeah, McGovern so tainted the Democratic party, yet Carter won in 1976.

I don't know what you'd have wanted the Dems to do in 1972, considering no Dem would have beaten Nixon.  Scoop Jackson?  If he'd have won, the death toll in Vietnam might have approached 100,000.  Humphrey redux?  Just a hangover from the failed LBJ Vietnam policy.  George Wallace?  lol.

History proved George McGovern right.  He did not hurt the Democratic party at all in the long run.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Privately a good man.  Politically and as a role model for Democrats like jfern, a complete disaster for the Democratic Party. 

How was he an ideological disaster?  Vietnam was a disaster 13 years in the making when he made his calls for withdrawl.

By illustrating to the entire country the fact that the Democratic Party could no longer be trusted to defend its interests abroad.  Carter's bungling during the Iran hostage crisis merely solidified this perception that was begun by McGovern's nomination by the Democratic Party.   

Yeah, McGovern so tainted the Democratic party, yet Carter won in 1976.

I don't know what you'd have wanted the Dems to do in 1972, considering no Dem would have beaten Nixon.  Scoop Jackson?  If he'd have won, the death toll in Vietnam might have approached 100,000.  Humphrey redux?  Just a hangover from the failed LBJ Vietnam policy.  George Wallace?  lol.

History proved George McGovern right.  He did not hurt the Democratic party at all in the long run.

And don't forget that if the election was held again in 1974, McGovern would have won.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Freedom Fighter. Very good man and was 100% right about Vietnam. Only an idiot today could deny that he was right, and that a 100% complete pullout from Vietnam was the rght thing to do.

[Alcon]

Never did anything to convince me he's not a good man. Sure I disagree with him but definatly not a horrible person.

I definitely agree with Andrew here.

[Yates]

He is a good man personally, but shifted Democratic Party politics far to the left, making it much harder for them to win elections.

[Jake]

Human trash, though not on the level of a Stalin or Blackmun.

[dazzleman]

Neither freedom fighter nor horrible person.

I'm sure he's a good man personally, but I don't agree with his positions on the issues, mostly.

He didn't really lead the Democratic Party to the left.  I don't think he could have led anybody out of a paper bag.  But he was a symbol of the collapse of the strong defense wing of the Democratic party, and the party's takeover by those dubious of and/or hostile to any use of American power, and even the defense of American interests.

He was also far left on domestic issues, arguing in favor of a much higher minimum income than that provided by welfare without any work requirement, a sure recipe for disaster.  There as a slogan "amnesty, acid and abortion" that was used very effectively against the Democratic Party the year McGovern ran.

Ironically, I think his election would have been a far worse disaster for the Democratic Party than his defeat.  Perhaps he could been elected in the immediate aftermath of the full impact of Watergate breaking, against a damaged Richard Nixon, but that's it.  That's only a short-term blip.  By 1976, even a more conservative Democrat could barely beat the man who pardoned Nixon.

Boss Tweed, I don't see how you can say that McGovern was proven right.  Domestically, we have gone in the opposite direction that he proposed.  Rather than guarantee a minimum income, we ended the welfare entitlement altogether, something that would have been inconceivable in 1972.  In terms of foreign policy, Nixon had all but completed the withdrawal of American forces in Vietnam by 1972 anyway, so McGovern really wasn't talking about much.  And when we cut off aid to the South Vietnamese and they collapsed, it ushered in a period of dangerous American weakness and Soviet aggression, culminating in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  That was largely reversed by Ronald Reagan, which contributed to us finally winning the Cold War.

I could definitely make the case that history has proven McGovern all wrong, though I do think the Vietnam War was badly executed and a foolish use of our national resources.  Still, it was all but over, for the US at least, by the time McGovern came along anyway, so he could not have contributed much in that area.  Probably the worst thing about how Vietnam ended was the Nixon and Ford, forced by the Democratic congress, carried out the policy of abandonment that McGovern insisted upon anyway.  It just took a little longer.

[Ben.]

Man of principle and conviction... should never have been allowed any where near a presidential election campaign

That said 1972 was the year that the Democratic Party began to allow the “new deal coalition” to fracture and break apart while at the same time allowing uber-liberals and counter culture types to define the party as their ideological home rejecting the Democrat’s traditional, position as a credible, responsible, progressive party... something which has really come back to haunt the party from then until the present day.       

[WalterMitty]

freedom fighter.

[??????????]

Wallace would have been a better war time candidate. His solutions to Vietnam were better then acceptable.

[jokerman]

Horrible for destroying the New Deal coalition.

[afleitch]

To me he just seemed inept for the time. However he probably has a higher standing now than he did then. A bit like Goldwater towards the end of his life.

[dazzleman]

Horrible for destroying the New Deal coalition.

I'd say in all honesty that McGovern did not destroy the New Deal coalition.  His nomination signaled that it was already dead.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

He certainly wasn't a horrible person, but he was certainly the very worst candidate the Democrats had run for President since the '20's.

In a way he's always reminded me of Michael Foot.

[Yates]

Human trash, though not on the level of a Stalin or Blackmun.

Blackmun was human trash, Jake?

One only needs to see my signature to know that I think highly of the man who disregarded politics in order to determine what the Constitution means.

[A18]

Uh... "in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently."

If he actually said that, it's hilarious. You are making fun of him right?

[??????????]

And that guy sat on the SCOTUS? Who appointed him? Probably some joke like LBJ or JFK.

[Emsworth]

If he actually said that, it's hilarious.

"In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way. And in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently. We cannot - we dare not - let the Equal Protection Clause perpetuate racial supremacy."

-- Justice Blackmun, in Regents v. Bakke (1978)