I swore I'd already posted in here. Ah, okay, here goes...
- Thomas Eagleton needs to be eliminated. Maybe his mental disorders come to light before the campaign somehow. Get him out of the way early enough to avoid his anonymous 'abortion, amnesty and acid' comments, much less his shitty VP bid.
- The DNC convention is not as messy and McGovern delivers his speech around 8PM or so, rather than early in the morning/late in the evening, allowing voters to witness his charisma for themselves.
- McGovern challenges Nixon to a televised debate, and Nixon likely refuses. Gives McGovern some good press. Or if you want to border on the impossible, they do debate and McGovern performs well.
- Obviously with Eagleton axed, he gets a different VP pick. Not sure who.
This gives McGovern the momentum to do fairly in the election. To push him over the edge is anyone's guess exactly... you could have one of Nixon or Agnew's scandals come forward earlier, or force Wallace to draw more Nixon voters.