George McGovern is dying.

[WilliamPitt]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/ex-sen-george-mcgovern-who-lost-presidency-to-nixon-in-historic-landslide-in-hospice-care/2012/10/15/7217c4f0-1725-11e2-a346-f24efc680b8d_story.html

"Of all the men that have run for president in the twentieth century, only George McGovern truly understood what a monument America could be to the human race."

- Hunter S. Thompson

[Odin2005]

1. Oh no! :-(

[spanone]

2. voted for him....

[Lochloosa]

17. My first vote for President. Damn.

[spanone]

23. mine too, had to be 21 then....

[tblue37]

36. Mine, too. You had to be 21 back then, and I was born in 1950. nt

[laruemtt]

40. mine too - i was 18 and

still believed the ideal was possible.....

[LiberalEsto]

58. Mine too.

Thank you, George.

[RKP5637]

3. What a wonderful person to be losing. n/t

[Posteritatis]

4. Wow, a politician getting that sort of description from Thompson. (nt)

[Smilo]

5. May his last few days be peaceful and filled with love.

A great big to George

[YoungDemCA]

6. A great man and a fine Senator...

Wasn't around when he ran in 1972, but everything I've heard and read about him increases my respect for him.

[garthranzz]

7. I met him once

McGovern was in New Orleans at the WWII museum, signing books. I got him to sign one for I think an uncle of mine. My father has a brick at the museum - a wounded Vet, Katrina kicked his Alzheimer's into late-stage, much sooner than necessary.

Anyway, I told the Senator that my first vote for President was for him - and it's a vote I've been very proud of ever since.

[WCGreen]

26. I was able to meet him as well....

Back in the 90's at a Fund Raiser here in Cleveland for a candidate I can't even remember. All I remember is the Senator.

[Whovian]

8. I wish him a peaceful passing.

He's a man that I have admired and am truly saddened by this news.

[catbyte]

9. I was too young to vote for him, but it was the first Presidential campaign I

paid attention to. I was crushed when he was trounced, but it ignited a passion for politics that has never wavered. Gentle passing, sir.

[Inspired]

10. I was 13 and cried the night he lost the election.

I was always an unusual child!

[treestar]

11. Same age here!

We had big debates in school that year, and all wore our dark blue with white letters McGovern buttons.

White the idiots of course had buttons saying "Nixon's the one." How anyone can look back and have been for Nixon, even at 13, is pretty amazing.

[regnaD kciN]

27. Oh, those Nixon buttons were quite useful later on...

I snagged one shortly after the election for my collection. Then, when the Watergate scandal exploded, I made a point of wearing it every time additional incriminating evidence came to light. Somehow, "Nixon's The One" took on a whole different meaning in those days...

[hfojvt]

18. I was ten

and became a Nixon supporter when I saw McGovern on TV essentially saying that the space program was a waste of money. I don't remember watching election results.

[Ken Burch]

24. So Nixon got re-elected

and ENDED the manned space program. Happy now?

McGovern would have put the resources involved in that program into earthly human needs. Nixon just gave them to his cronies in tax breaks or used them to build more missiles.

[hfojvt]

35. I doubt if my ten year old wishes

had anything to do with the results.

I think Nixon was before the "all tax cuts, all the time" that the Republican Party has turned in to.

Kinda funny too, because as a ten year old my sun rose and set on Apollo, but by the time I was 25, I essentially agreed with what McGovern said that so angered my ten year old self.

I still have mixed feelings about McGovern. I helped, in a very small way, to vote him out of office in 1980. My feeling then, was that 3 terms was enough, that I didn't think Congresspeople should have lifetime tenure. Further, I also felt that he was no longer a South Dakotan.

And he sorta proved that for me. After he was defeated, he did not move back to Mitchell to live. He spent very little time in SD until buying another home there I guess in 2007, or moving into a long owned family home, but only as a snowbird.

Now I wonder if the local library has any of his books. "What it means to be a Democrat" looks interesting.

[WilliamPitt]

45. Why is it not surprising

that you're the one to take a shit in this thread.

Oh, that's right. I know why.

[regnaD kciN]

52. Another one for the ignore list...

[hfojvt]

59. curious concept

"taking a shit in a thread"

that's kind of a disgusting phrase, is it not?

I suppose though, that I should try to avoid doing it. What does it mean to do it? To say something in a thread besides "KNR"?

I made a few somewhat rambling comments about my memory of Mr. McGovern. It happens to be what I remember, but I guess I should not have shared my memories because other people will not like them. Other people will find them to be excremental.

McGovern also happened to have been MY senator, from MY home state. A state I am still rather fond of.

These political types, though, seem less fond of it. McGovern and Daschle and Abdnor. When they run for re-election they usually claim "I am a South Dakotan. I represent South Dakota. I care about South Dakota." Yet if they are defeated, they quickly abandon South Dakota in favor of other places. McGovern did that. When he ran for re-election, for his 4th Senate term, his opponent, "Abdnor claimed McGovern was out of touch with the state and he defeated McGovern by a large margin". I agreed with Abdnor then, and feel that McGovern did not prove me wrong either.

I also still feel that four terms is too long for somebody to be a Senator or Congressperson. That if this is going to be a government "of the people and by the people and for the people" that it should not be made up of people who have spent their whole lives being politicians. That somebody who has spent 18 years being powerful, being important, being famous and being very well paid is probably not the best representative of ordinary working people.

That's not really personal to George McGovern, but it happens to be how I felt when I voted against him in 1980. Although, again, he lost "by a large margin" so my vote was sorta moot.

Of course, voting for a Republican, even as a young and foolish teenager who has since repented, makes me an evil heretic to DU. Oddly enough though, according to Wiki, McGovern himself voted for Ford in 1976.

I am perhaps the only South Dakotan on this thread. Maybe some would like to hear from a Dakotan. Sorry I don't have better memories, but my memories are what my memories are.

I am sorry that you don't like me, for whatever sins I have committed on DU. I have always been a fan of yours, note the blogroll in my old journal http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt

Clearly, I have failed at DU. When I re-joined after the Kerry defeat. It was supposed to be a place where I would hang out with friends as we all tried to recover and regroup and find some way to take back our country. I was gonna be part of a team trying to defeat Republicans like Dave Spence http://www.democraticunderground.com/1061299 and Mitt Romney http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021222445 and spread the word about failed Republican policies http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002908833.

Instead, I seem mostly to have made enemies and been ignored and insulted.

So it goes.

[Throckmorton]

33. I was 11, the morning after the election, I remember my fathers words clearly:

Nixon won, another four years of baloney and bombs.

My father was and is a staunch Democrat.

[CitizenLeft]

61. I was thirteen

...and I cried. We read post-election articles from Time and Newsweek in Social Studies class the week afterward, and I remember being depressed about it. A politic-freak in the making, LOL.

Sad news. I always admired George McGovern.

[WillyT]

12. Damn...

& Rec !!!

[H2O Man]

13. A Great American.

George McGovern is one of my favorite politicians. Too many people only associate him with the 1972 presidential election -- and do not have an appreciation of that strange campaign/election itself, much less this man's wonderful career.

If there were more people with his integrity, intelligence, and compassion in Washington, DC, the nation would not be in the sorry shape it's in.

[Generic Other]

14. I shook his hand in front of a Labor Hall the year he ran for president

I wasn't old enough to vote for him.

[kentuck]

15. Next to Jimmy Carter, my favorite Democrat.

I recall taking up collections for him at outdoor concerts in the early 70's, in his bid to unseat the crook, Nixon. He has lived a long and productive life. Godspeed, Senator McGovern.

[senseandsensibility]

16. Love him.

Bless him and his family. I hope he isn't in pain, and can reflect on his family and the things that have brought him joy. He is a great public servant, and I would like to thank him for that.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

19. I think America realized it's mistake after Watergate.

It was weird,...some of us were living the life we would have lived if McGovern had won and laughed at the people who were saying of Nixon, "And to think I voted for him!"

Of course, in just a few years you couldn't find anyone who admitted to it.

There is something stubborn in the American mind that says, "Peace is for wimps".

[regnaD kciN]

28. That was the election where only my home state went Dem...

It was also the time when people showed their "patriotism" by putting American flag decals on their car windows. Well, my family found an "alternative" flag decal, with a plain blue union with a single star in the "northeast" corner, and kept that flag on our car through the Trickster's resignation. I also had a button which read "Don't blame me -- I'm from Massachusetts."

Anyway...as someone who was an idealistic teen while canvassing for McGovern in 1972, it's sobering to realize that I'm now quite a few years older than the Senator was when he ran for President. I always thought him a good, brave, noble, even heroic man...but I never saw him as a relatively-young one. So we all go...but some in more glory than others.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

37. Speaking of,...is Dick Cheney dead yet?

[regnaD kciN]

53. The undead live forever...

[malaise]

56. NO

my champagne is still on ice

[The Wizard]

20. The first vote I ever cast

was for Senator McGovern in 1972. He's the reason I registered as a Democrat. I met him at the 04 convention, and it was my best memory of the convention.

[Ken Burch]

21. A long-live courageously lived.

Be at peace, senator. You will always be the greatest president we never had.

[MrMickeysMom]

22. This is bittersweet...

At the moment that America could be at her turning point with the American people finally standing behind those who are fighting in the streets, his life fades to that of farewell...

I'll try even harder for the legacy of your effort, sir. [url=http://www.cosgan.de/smilie.php][img][/img][/url]

[Ken Burch]

25. The best tribute OUR party could pay to George McGovern...

...would be to stop repudiating everything he stands for.

It wasn't a disgrace to nominate a candidate who admitted that we were wrong to have ever been in Vietnam. It's not a disgrace to challenge the war machine now.

[Mira]

29. So sad, and a huge loss.

I became a citizen as soon as I possibly could after immigrating just so I could vote for him. I was so young I had never ever voted before.
He was my first.
I kept loving him.

[nevergiveup]

30. I can't think of appropriate words.

My proudest and most heart felt presidential vote ever. I am a better person because of Senator McGovern.

[janet118]

31. George McGovern at Mass. Democratic Convention in 2006

(L-r) Former Sen. George McGovern, future Gov. Deval Patrick and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA - no relation) at the Mass. Democratic Convention in 2006.

I still think that George McGovern's "Come Home, America" acceptance speech at the 1972 Democratic National Convention was the best speech I have ever heard. Of course, it took place at around 2 AM so there were only a few people who actually saw it live. He was a decorated fighter pilot in WWII and is a truly good and honest man. A great American is leaving us.

[Douglas Carpenter]

64. here is the speech in full for those who missed it

&feature=share&list=PLE58F18FA0A0CBAA3

[Tresalisa]

32. My very first vote as an 18-year-old.

Very sad news. Prayers for him and his loved ones.

[PufPuf23]

34. My first vote. Peace and thanks to you.

Last edited Tue Oct 16, 2012, 12:55 AM - Edit history (1)

George McGovern is my model of a good Democratic politician when I came of age.

The insanity and harsh reality of now and the foreseeable future would have been out of the range of my comprehention in 1972.

That is a grand quote from HST.

[LiberalAndProud]

38. My heart dropped when I read this OP.

I drink a toast to a life well lived.

http://www.wfp.org/content/george-mcgovern-goodwill-ambassador
2000 saw the introduction in the United States of joint legislation by McGovern and another former Senator, Bob Dole, which commits an annual amount from the US federal budget to provide nutritious meals to poor students around the world. In 2001, McGovern was named WFP’s first Goodwill Ambassador.

Make a Difference, Donate Today
[font color="blue"]World Food Programme[/font]

[Hekate]

39. A life well lived

Thank you Senator McGovern for all that you did for our country ... go in peace ... rest sweetly...

Hekate

[Irishonly]

41. I voted for him

He was running the first year I could vote.

[glinda]

42. ...sad.....

[Oilwellian]

43. It was McGovern who inspired me to become politically active

Even though I was a senior in high school and couldn't vote, I volunteered to help in his campaign. What a different world we would be had he won. I will always hold him in the highest regard. Best wishes for he and his family.

[Graybeard]

44. FMBM

"For McGovern Before Miami". I still have that FMBM silver donor pin that refers to the 1972 DNC that was in Miami and nominated McGovern. They were sent to supporters who had joined the campaign early in the process. I often think what might have been.

[WilliamPitt]

46. Up for the morning crew.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings.

[ananda]

47. I hope he dies peacefully and painfree.

He was the first candidate I voted for in a general election.

I also got to vote for Barbara Jordan.

Those were the days!

[lapislzi]

48. I was 11 years old.

My mother held coffees for local Democratic candidates, and we walked door to door handing out McGovern leaflets.

It was not my first exposure to politics, as my mother was very active, but it made a lasting impression. Nixon's name could not be spoken in our house without the speaker receiving a glower, glare, or bark.

Godspeed, Senator.

[Overseas]

49. So sorry to hear it. We will miss this great statesman.

[ThatsMyBarack]

50. Safe passage.

I was only 1 1/2 years old when he ran for POTUS 40 years ago.

[magical thyme]

51. The very first vote I ever cast was for McGovern for President

I was 19. My first landslide too

May we experience a landslide the other way this time, and may he pass his torch to President Obama...

[abumbyanyothername]

54. I volunteered for the McGovern campaign

I was in 8th or 9th grade. It was a Social Studies assignment.

What I remember was my social studies teacher being quite annoyed with my oral report about my experience and nit-picking that I did not write up my experience, when no one else in the class even bothered to volunteer for the campaign of their choice. As I am a bit of an approval junkie, and as a child was even worse, I was hurt.

Looking back, I realize that she was just upset about my politics.

[KansDem]

55. 1972: The first election I voted in.

I was 19 and the age for voting had just been lowered from 21 to 18.

Voted for McGovern. He was such a breath of fresh air in a world stagnant with Nixon and Vietnam.

From Wikipedia:

1972 presidential campaign

McGovern ran on a platform that advocated withdrawal from the Vietnam War in exchange for the return of American prisoners of war[141] and amnesty for draft evaders who had left the country.[142]

McGovern's platform also included an across-the-board, 37 percent reduction in defense spending over three years;[143] and a "demogrant" program (later dropped from the platform) that would replace the personal income tax exemption with a $1,000 tax credit as a minimum-income floor for every citizen in America,[144] to replace the welfare bureaucracy and complicated maze of existing public-assistance programs. Its concept (a conservative one) was similar to the negative income tax long advocated by economist Milton Friedman, and by the Nixon Administration in the form of the Family Assistance Program, which called for a minimum family grant of $1,600 per year, later raised to $2,400. The personal income tax exemption later became $1,000 under President Reagan. (As Senator, McGovern had previously sponsored a bill, submitted by the National Welfare Rights Organization, for $6,500 guaranteed minimum income per year to families, based on need.)[145] In addition, McGovern supported ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

McGovern became tagged with the label "amnesty, abortion and acid," supposedly reflecting his positions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_McGovern

He'll be sorely missed...

[WilliamPitt]

57. "Amnesty, Abortion and Acid" was the refrain during the primaries

A charge leveled by his opponents.

The event that led to the landslide was when he tapped Eagleton, and all the Eagleton revelations that followed.

[KansDem]

65. After 40 years, the right-wing hysteria remains.

They can't accept change and progress.

They're still angry about:
1972: Abortion
2012: Abortion

1972: Acid
2012: Drugs in general, i.e., medicinal marijuana clinics; War on Drugs; cannabis legalization

1972: Amnesty
2012: No draft nowadays, so no reason to object to granting amnesty to those individuals who left for Canada to avoid fighting in a war they didn't believe in. However, the "specific group getting special privileges" has always been a talking point for right-wing anger, i.e., the current "Immigration Reform and Amnesty Bill" comes to mind.

They are stuck in the past with their hatred and bereft of any new ideas.

I truly believe that right-wingers are happiest when they are the most miserable...

[WilliamPitt]

66. Amazing, isn't it?

*sigh*

[avaistheone1]

60. I voted for him.

I still think I have a few things from his campaign. What a different America it would have been had McGovern won the Presidency.

It is sad he didn't win the White House and it sad to let him go...

[EmeraldCityGrl]

62. My husband ran into him a few short years ago while on

A trip to NY. He told McGovern what a fan I was. McGovern
Brought out a book he had written on Social Secuity and made a
personal inscription in it to me. What a lovely man he is. McGovern
and his family have so much to be proud of for a life well lived.

[Douglas Carpenter]

63. most decent man to ever run for President of the United States - the one time I voted my conscience

From secrecy and deception in high places; come home, America



From military spending so wasteful that it weakens our nation; come home, America.



From the entrenchment of special privileges in tax favoritism; from the waste of idle lands to the joy of useful labor; from the prejudice based on race and sex; from the loneliness of the aging poor and the despair of the neglected sick -- come home, America.



Come home to the affirmation that we have a dream. Come home to the conviction that we can move our country forward.



Come home to the belief that we can seek a newer world, and let us be joyful in that homecoming, for this “is your land, this land is my land -- from California to New York island, from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters -- this land was made for you and me.”



So let us close on this note: May God grant each one of us the wisdom to cherish this good land and to meet the great challenge that beckons us home.