George McGovern wins in 1972!

burmafrd

Banned
As someone who was AROUND in 1972, I think you underestimate how much so many people got spooked about McGovern.
 
Maybe Mcgovern should have talked about his war record in the campaign. He flew B-24 bombers over enemy territory and won a Distinguished Flying Cross. Stephen Ambrose wrote about Mcgovern's exploits in his book about B-24 bomber pilots The Wild Blue.
 
I know this is an old topic sorry for rising it if it offends.

I think you underestimate how much so many people got spooked about McGovern.

Why is this? The only thing I can see is media Hysteria. There is also strong evidence that suggests manipulation in many aspects on the part of NIxon. From plants at rallies to watergate. From the studying I've done it seems to me this was somewhat of an unfair and lopsided election from the get go.

There is a lot the public didn't know about McGovern and a lot of lies that were widely believed. I find the election fascinating.
 
Maybe Mcgovern should have talked about his war record in the campaign. He flew B-24 bombers over enemy territory and won a Distinguished Flying Cross. Stephen Ambrose wrote about Mcgovern's exploits in his book about B-24 bomber pilots The Wild Blue.

A very good point. For some reason, McGovern was loathe to discuss what was a quite distingushed military career. With a better-run convention, a great acceptance speech and the type of bio film that is standard these days, the McGovern campaign could have done a great deal more than it did to change public perceptions of him as no more than the candidate of Acid, Amnesty and Abortion.
 
Take this for what you will for someone who was 6 at the time living in Solidly Democratic Appalachia- Barely aware of the election, but it made an impact. McGovern was really hurt by those who seemed to be around him- the counter culture of the 60s. That particular subset really bugged/scared a lot of old New Deal Democrats.

How that came to be can be discussed- I think Nixon's tactics/tricks certainly helped, but McGovern did not help himself at all (The Salinger Mission, amensty for draft dodgers, the snubbing of Richard Daley at the Democratic Convention, the guaranteed annual income proposal, his relations with the Democratic party establishment of the time).

McGovern just wasn't the one to run against Nixon in 72. If by some miracle/ASB intervention he had managed to eke out a win- the 1974 off-year elections would have been a Republican rout followed by Ronald Reagan in 1967 easily defeating McGovern.


I know this is an old topic sorry for rising it if it offends.



Why is this? The only thing I can see is media Hysteria. There is also strong evidence that suggests manipulation in many aspects on the part of NIxon. From plants at rallies to watergate. From the studying I've done it seems to me this was somewhat of an unfair and lopsided election from the get go.

There is a lot the public didn't know about McGovern and a lot of lies that were widely believed. I find the election fascinating.
 
Pretty much ASB. No Democrat could've beaten Nixon that year with a 1972 POD. McGovern's ideology certainly helped in driving 37% of Dems to Nixon (nearly twice the 20% of Republicans defecting to LBJ in '64) but he was like Goldwater: plain-spoken ideological honesty on an ideology that was completely outside the boundaries of acceptability for Middle America at the time, even today, unlike Goldwater.
 
Hmmm... if Eagleton never gives the "Abortion, Acid, Amnesty" quote, Watergate + CREEP activity and Agnew's scandals come out fully, McGovern picks Terry Sanford or Ted Kennedy accepts (probably the latter as I doubt Sanford would help McGovern win in the South) talks about his war record (that seems out of character)... and it gets thrown to the house... I could see a President Wallace being more likely STILL.
 
Watergate After the Fact

McGoveren is elected. After the election more comes out about Watergate and related matters. On the way out of D.C. just about everyone tells about some kind of misdeed during there years in town. Wile it leads to some procecutions it is not as big a deal. Since it's not about a sitting president that's not a surprise. Nixon deighs everything. People with knowledge are convicted. Soon it gets out of the news and over to the gossip colums. The political news has to do with our troops returning from Vietnam and the new gaureenteed minamum income. By the way George McGoveren is the first one I ever voted for. I never did thinl Viet Nam was our fight.
 
No one wanted anything to do with McGovern. Ted Kennedy unequivocally refused anything to do with '72, even though he could've had the nomination on a silver platter. Read True Compass or TMP '72 if you don't believe me.
 
No one wanted anything to do with McGovern. Ted Kennedy unequivocally refused anything to do with '72, even though he could've had the nomination on a silver platter. Read True Compass or TMP '72 if you don't believe me.
Ted Kennedy saying yes (very implausible) is part of the POD though. I could see him maybe saying yes if a *Watergate a few months before is caught and it all unravels by the convention. This is still borderline ASB though.
 
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