[quote]What Might Have Been
In which George McGovern, the senior member of a rare and burdened tribe, reveals just how long it takes to get over losing the presidency

By Michael Leahy
Sunday, February 20, 2005; Page W20

George McGovern's phone is ringing.

Unlike former presidents, the `82-year`-old McGovern, the 1972 Democratic nominee, has no Secret Service detail or `government-funded` secretarial help, so he picks up the phone and says in his soft, slow, nasally Dakota voice, "`Hell-lo`?" A big, black, preternaturally alert Newfoundland named Ursa looks up at him expectantly as he says goodbye to the caller and stands. "Come on, Ursa, want to go to a meeting and see Bob?" McGovern asks, in that singsong voice people generally reserve for pets and small children.

He puts on a brown overcoat, shuffling toward the door, then stops abruptly. Over his shoulder, hung in a hallway, is a framed photo of himself on the cover of what appears to be the November 13, 1972, issue of Newsweek magazine -- or a `News-week` from a parallel universe. The headline says, "THE GREAT UPSET." Beneath those words, alongside the candidate's beaming visage at age 50, is the cover's subtitle: "`President-Elect` McGovern." Newsweek prepared the cover, McGovern explains, just in case he beat the odds and won the '72 race. It is one more reminder for him of what might have been.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/`wp-dyn`/articles/`A27100-2005Feb15`.html[/quote]

Awww. I love George McGovern. What a different world we'd be living in if he had won. I'm glad you posted this, Jeebie, because this article answered a question that's been in the back of my mind for months. I knew I saw him speak once back in the '80's. I thought he was running for President at the time, but I never hear anyone mention his '84 campaign and I don't remember it clearly, so I wasn't sure. I guess he was the first person I ever voted for in a presidential race, then. That seems so long ago.

I saw him speak again recently, on inauguration day. He has a lot to say that is of value at this time. I wish more people could hear him.

Thanks for the article, I enjoyed it.

I agree that we would be living in a different world had McGovern been elected. He seems like a better man than Nixon, but if I were a Communist and I was told that McGovern had won, I'd bring out the list of countries I wanted to invade next.

But then I'm a Scoop Jackson fan myself.

I just got to the part about his `daughter-how` awful! I don't understand it.

[quote]But it was McGovern's social agenda that drew the most attention. He favored amnesty for draft resisters, advocated deep cuts in military programs, vowed to dramatically overhaul a tax system that he said favored the rich, and pledged to push for a new `family-assistance` program that would guarantee an annual income of $1,000 for every American adult and child.[/quote]

He had a great social policy, it's still a good policy!

[quote]The same stances that had served him well in the Democratic primaries dominated by his `left-leaning` constituency doomed him against Nixon, whose campaign pounced on McGovern's liberalism, turning the word into an albatross for decades to come. The '72 battle was nasty: McGovern characterized the Nixon officials as warmongers with blood on their hands; Nixon's campaign portrayed McGovern as a patsy whose stances would open the door to economic decline, national dishonor and communist expansion. [/quote]

The Repubs are still using this strategy, with a little more added.

[quote]Always, he has preferred a public life. President Bill Clinton appointed him as ambassador to the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization in 1997, when McGovern took up residence at an FAO office in Rome, setting out a plan for delivering food to 500 million malnourished people. Two years later, he joined forces with an `off-and`-on adversary, Bob Dole, in proposing that the United Nations commit to providing a school lunch to every hungry child on the planet. The Clinton administration allotted $300 million for the effort, and the Bush administration has since earmarked $200 million. His efforts and career were recognized in 2000, when Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. [/quote]

The Medal of Freedom, this is one man who deserved to be honored.