Memories of 1972

Throughout my middle years, I lived with Vietnam.  My sister was 6 years older and I remember watching the lottery as the birthdays were called after her fiancé turned 18.  Thankfully, his number was high, but not so for so many young men.  We gave parties for them when they left.  The parties were wild and filled with a sharp edge.  Most men didn’t seem to be coming back.  I know I felt like I was saying good-bye forever to each one.  

I was 17 and moved when I heard George McGovern speak.  McGovern was a Senator from South Dakota with a history of liberal voting on civil rights, anti-poverty measures and the environment.  He was also liberal socially on abortion, homosexuality and the women’s movement.   He took in all volunteers.  No matter how long the hair, no matter how young.  We were filled with hope.  I felt like we had finally found someone who could speak for us.

In 1971, the 26th amendment to the constitution guaranteed the right to vote began at age 18.  The sentiment was if you were old enough to die for your country, you were old enough to have a voice.  And we were ready to be heard.  

McGovern is a decorated WWII veteran.  His father was a Methodist minister.

He has never been a pacifist, but felt that we were involved in a war that could not be won.  We were aligned with a corrupt regime in South Vietnam that did not have the backing of the people. He ran for presidency promising to remove all troops from Southeast Asia if elected.  His plan included reduction of military spending, guaranteed minimum income for all Americans and the passing of the Equal Rights Amendment.
He came from behind in the primaries with a grass roots campaign with folks like me knocking on doors and stuffing envelopes.  What a wonderful, hope filled primary.

And then it started.  First there was the ‘quote’.  What was it....amnesty, abortion and acid.  Suddenly McGovern was the evil liberal Un-American coming to rip out everything America stood for.  The Republicans successfully branded him as a loose cannon.  

His running partner, elected in the primary was Eagleton.  He was soon to be replaced after he admitted to having had electro shock therapy in the 1960’s.  McGovern first said he was behind him 100%.  Then Eagleton admitted the story was true and McGovern had to back down and pick another running mate.  

After that, he was just no longer taken seriously.  We didn’t get it.  Somehow we thought reason would win out.  He won like 2 states.  I turned 18 in December of 1972, one month too late to vote.

But the Republicans successfully branded him and demolished him.  

Does any of this sound possible today?  

Please understand when I say I am worried about Obama.  It isn’t that I
do not like him.  It isn’t that I don’t admire him.  It is that I have seen a wonderful, heavily vetted liberal candidate who got out the youth vote fall to the machinations of the right wing hacks.

•  It says I should have a tip jar....ok.

  by crazyshirley2100 on Thu Jan 17, 2008 at 11:33:59 PM PDT

  •  I walked precincts for McGovern in 72

    in Orange County in the primaries. Voted for him in Berkeley, where I transferred to finish undergraduate. My draft lottery number was 49. Thank gods for the 2S deferment!

    by MarkInSanFran on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 12:02:15 AM PDT

  •  Thanks.. memories of my first Presidential vote.

    I turned 21 in Dec. 1972, but 18 year olds were granted the vote in time!  And I have recently reread accounts of how Muskie was swift-boated some 32 years before Kerry, and McGovern made a pariah, largely.. nearly all.. the result of Nixon's CREEP.  I also remember the Nixon slams sequentially written in the mens restroom stall in the basement of Agronomy Hall on campus, and also chalk writing on the sidewalk on central campus with classics like:
    "Nixon: Pull out like your father should have," and
    "The best part of Dick Nixon ran down his mother's leg.."  (I know..  sortof childish and gross-we were young men on campus)

    Also, "WIll Rogers never met Dick Nixon.."  and also again, "Dick Nixon before Nixon Dicks you..."  

    And there were many many more...

    Hadn't thought about that in years...

    by gilgaiiowa on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 04:48:24 AM PDT

•  And what if Hillary = Mondale?

  Saying Obama could be just like McGovern so we shouldn't nominate him doesn't make any more sense than saying we shouldn't nominate Hillary because she'll be just like Mondale.

  Apples and oranges. Don't forget Nixon was an incumbent and the Repubs won't have that this year. In fact they'll have to run against the Democrats AND Bush.

  by modemocrat on Thu Jan 17, 2008 at 11:34:21 PM PDT

  •  I am still undecided

    Does it sound like I am saying do not nominate him?  I will reread the last paragraph.  Thanks for the feedback.

    by crazyshirley2100 on Thu Jan 17, 2008 at 11:38:10 PM PDT

  •  but would that mean

    Edwards = Carter?

    by Crisis Corps Volunteer on Thu Jan 17, 2008 at 11:47:45 PM PDT

    •  At least he won one term :) nt

      And Carter is well-liked here (although there are some negatives that I wasn't born yet to know about.)

      by BlueEngineerInOhio on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 06:38:04 AM PDT

  •  exactly - go hart! n/t

    by jethropalerobber on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 12:07:35 AM PDT

    •  Hart= Bill Clinton....

      I hope Obama=Oprah personally.  Oprah is someone who is hugely popular with all races because of her charisma and charm and frankly, her intelligence.  It is a good thing for me that Oprah endorsed Obama.

      by murrayewv on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 05:38:44 AM PDT

    •  Who was his campaign manager nt

      by crazyshirley2100 on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 08:08:56 AM PDT

•  Same for me, it was also my first time to vote.

  You ask a very good question. I suggest we not forget the past, and work our asses off to assure what happened in 1972 will never happen again in America. I truly believe the power and influence of the "net roots" accompanied by our acquired experience and knowledge will change the day. We are a movement waiting for a leader. I believe more strongly every day that one of the three front runners will ultimately lead us to victory in November. That said, regardless who we choose as our candidate, come January 20, 2009, our work for change in America  will just start, as we will have to work day and night to keep our elected representatives feet to the fire to enact legislation for the common good, not for the good of America's lobbyists.    

  by brjzn on Thu Jan 17, 2008 at 11:44:21 PM PDT

•  Ah, McGovern

  I was 24, a total hippie, partially employed as a handyman. My girlfriend at the time was a secretary down at the County. We gave hundreds of dollars to the McGovern campaign, and those were 1972 dollars.

  By the way, he won one state, Massachusetts, my former abode, cradle of liberty. Didn't even win SD, his own state. Our country has been paying ever since.

  And no, that wipeout from 72 won't happen this year. All the factors that led to McGovern's defeat are running the other way today.

  by DBunn on Thu Jan 17, 2008 at 11:50:51 PM PDT

•  1000 percent

  The amnesty in "amnesty, abortion and acid" was for "draft dodgers," who were largely persons of conscience who refused to participate in a war that was started and being fought under false pretenses (Gulf of Tonkin, domino theory). Sounds familiar, yes?

  Poor Tom Eagleton, there was a good story about him recently, in the NY Times magazine. He was a great public servant who was blinded by his own ambition when the chips were down. When he was first interviewed by Frank Mankiewicz back in July 1972, he denied having any skeletons in the closet.

  He died last March in Missouri, having never lost an election.

  by Chimes of Freedom on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 12:04:42 AM PDT

•  The right wing hacks

  who smeared McGovern and other Dems in 1972 included Karl Rove, who worked for one of Nixon's chief dirty tricksters, Donald Segretti, after dropping out of college.

  by Chimes of Freedom on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 12:14:19 AM PDT

•  I was just a little younger

  but worked harder for McGovern than i have for any candidate since.  It was an impossible sell in my conservative suburban neighborhood going door to door.  But he was still the greatest human to run for President in our lifetime.

  Obama exists in a much easier environment than Senator McGovern did.  As bad as it still it, the United States is light years more enlightened as a culture than it was then.  The country wasn't ready for him in 1972.  Things are a lot different now.  

  But I do share a little of your irrational fear that something "bad" could happen to derail the dream.  I'm hoping the country is finally "ready" to do something right.  We'll see.

  by recontext on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 12:29:05 AM PDT

•  The forces now include not just smears but also

  seduction....To seduce Dems into thinking they need to move to the Right, to be bi-partisan, etc.

  A whole Brave New World of control techniques ....

  by LNK on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 12:30:07 AM PDT

  •  Ha! Eagleton vs. Nixon and Reagan and Bush

    Eagleton was perfectly sane; just depleted and depressed as I recall.
    I adore the part where no other candidates accepted his challenge to have their heads examined:

    http://www.stltoday.com/...

    Eagleton had his head screwed on straight.
    Nixon, on the other hand. Certifiable lunatic. Drunk. On drugs. Was it Kissinger who stepped in to warn the military not to obey his commands?

    Reagan had Alzheimer's Disease and the mental impairment was quite evident while he was in office. Others took advantage and/or covered up for him.

    And now we have "Bush on the Couch"?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/...

    Ha! Who are the crazies?

    If we had a good Rapid Response Team we could whip out a Panel of Expert Psychiatrists when necessary.

    by LNK on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 12:42:36 AM PDT

•  Don't change Dicks in the middle...

  ...of a screw.

  Vote for Cheney in '10 less 2.

  Brokered convention.  Mmmph.

  Dick?

  ...or Jeb?

  by Jaime Frontero on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 12:30:17 AM PDT

•  In Early Fall 72 As I Roved Out

  across my midwest Party School campus with my 2 roommates, we chanced on a Wednesday afternoon upon a radical speaker who was urging violence toward certain our leading politicians. He had a very, very small crowd of listeners.

  But plenty of photographers.

  My 2 idiot roommates turned to stare at the tiny crowd as I nervously looked down, away, and walked quickly away.

  The photographers were not shooting the speaker. They were shooting the crowd.

  Friday evening when I was out of state waiting for them to arrive at a midwest collegiate event, the Secret Service was in Columbus with my idiot roommates  wanting to know who many of us in their photographs were, and asking a couple hundred other questions.

  by Gooserock on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 01:01:07 AM PDT

•  I can see this ...

  happening.  I don't think even Obama realizes how much things will change when/if he gets the nomination.  He may rise to occasion.  But we don't really know.

  by Moresby on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 01:43:48 AM PDT