How many veterans of the McGovern Campaign are here ?

[chieftain]

I just went to see the documentary " A Bright Shining Moment " which chronicles the '72 run for the presidency by McGovern . It is a marvelous film and I highly recommend it to those who worked for the Senator and to younger folks who want a primer on what , until the Bush thugs seized power , was the most distressing time of my life .
I worked for McGovern in Cincinnati , Ohio and Flint , Michigan and the fond memories flooded back as I watched glimpses of the past on the screen . With all the negative hammering on our collective efforts to end the Vietnam War and reform the Democratic Party , it was refreshing to see such a skillful and evocative affirmation of what we did in that perilous time .

[hector459]

1. Raising my hand.

:hi:

[IndianaGreen]

18. Raising my hand too!

:hi:

[Old and In the Way]

2. A proud canvasser and voter for George McGovern here.

Sad to think, what might have been...

[Firenze777]

3. I think I still have a button...

That says "FMBM" For McGovern before Miami. My first time to vote...his decency matched my youthful enthusiasm. Hope I feel the same way about the 2008 candidate.

[ChiciB1]

67. Gee, I just posted almost the same thing

My first too, and I still have McGovern buttons! I've kept buttons and any other political memorabilia ever since then. I have quite a collection now!

Comes with AGE?????

[globalvillage]

4. My initiation into politics.

I was twelve, and stuffing envelopes. I'll never forget the pride I felt during that campaign, knowing at a very early age that I was doing the right thing. I felt so much of that again, more than thirty years later, with, unfortunately, the same painful outcome. Now, though, all these years later, I understand the sense of personal victory that escaped me way back then. When you're twelve, it's easy to believe that loss is failure. The wisdom of age teaches that numbers do not always tell the tale of right vs wrong.

[seventythree]

36. mine, too

although I was older -- in graduate school -- first Presidential candidate I ever saw in the flesh. Had a big feud with my mom over him. She insisted she had received some piece of mail saying he was a communist, but she never showed it to me. We had some years of little talk back then as I marched against Nam with my Nam vet husband, and she said they should have killed a few more of those hippies at Kent. When CBS did that expose on Westmorland (whose arm my husband set in Nam, btw), she called me and apologized, saying "You were right all along; I'm sorry. But you need to understand I went through WWII, and I wasn't ready to believe my country would lie to me." We never differed on a candidate again.

[car54whereareyou]

43. Thanks for sharing

your story. Your mom sounds like a great person!

[seventythree]

50. thanks

she was.

[zann725]

72. Mine too. It was my first vote for a Presidential Candidate...

and whether he won or lost, it proudly set the tone of my future expectations of terms "Democrat" and "Liberal." McGovern was one tough act to follow!

[bemildred]

5. He got my vote. nt

[Adelante]

6. Yo!

Man, this brings me back. I have got to see that documentary.

[CindyDale]

7. I passed out flyers on the street

I still remember this old lady in a chauffeur-driven limo stopping to give me a lecture. I thought she would be a Nixon supporter. She turned out to be for Chisholm ("the wars will never stop until you get a woman in"). It was great.

[n2mark]

8. McGovern

I worked for McGovern in Illinois

[pdxblue]

42. me too!

where were you?

[onehandle]

9. As a ten year old, I had a McGovern sticker on my notebook binder.

I was going to a private Catholic school at the time. My family wasn't rich, but my parents wanted me to get a good education. However most of the kids I attended school with had rich parents who loved old tricky dick.

I got the evil eye, big time.

My girlfriend thought defying the status quo was cool and I received extra kisses for my effort.

[NeoTraitors]

10. I was a little baby, looking cute for

my parents who both campaigned for McGovern. Years later, we were lucky enough to have him over for dinner!

[globalvillage]

16. Yum...

:9

[seventythree]

51. cool!

[karynnj]

11. I canvassed and voted for McGovern

Just out of college, working for Bell Labs, I volunteered in one of the wealthiest, most Republican counties in NJ. In May I had left IU, where in a university sponsored vote 90+% of the students were in favor of a US pullout and the name Nixon was almost the dirtiest word you could say. Canvassing in NJ after this, was culture shock.

I still have my McGovern button and I am as proud of it as I am of my Kerry bumper sticker - They were 2 of the most decent men who have run in my life time - and both had extremely dirty campaigns waged against them by two of the worst humans that ever became President.

[lumpy]

12. How different our lives

would have been if the people had had the decency to elect a very decent well educated man to the presidency, a man by the name of George McGovern.

[blondeatlast]

13. Too young to vote, but helped my parents campaign! nt

[zulchzulu]

14. I was called a commie in grade school for supporting McGovern

It was the goofy school newspaper and I wrote possibly my first Op-Ed article about how McGovern was a good candidate for Prez over Tricky Dicky.

I was called a commie by some fellow school kids after that and even got in a fight in the playground.

[zulchzulu]

58. Let me mention my parents were Nixon Repuglicans

Maybe that's where the trouble started.

:hi:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

15. cast my 1st ever presidential vote for McGovern!

[seventythree]

37. as did I

[chieftain]

17. Come Home America

That was the theme of his acceptance speech that because of the convention wrangles was not given until the wee hours of the morning . The film ends with this soaring anthem cry for America to return to its real values . It is so sad to think what might have been , but maybe with communities of thinkers and activists like DU we can help America come home from this neo-con madness that has hijacked our nation .

[Historic NY]

19. Raising my hand....I was 16 at the time......made phone calls

etc.

[LittleWoman]

20. I went door to door for him in Minneapolis

and I still have my "Million Member" club card.

[LittleWoman]

21. I went door to door for McGovern in Minneapolis

and I still have my "Million Member" club card. For those of you too young to remember the Million Member campaign had a goal of a million people each sending in $25 to the McGovern campaign. In those days that was a pretty good sized war chest.

[UTUSN]

22. Voter Only

Sorry to cast a wet blanket, but wish I had kept his letter. I wrote something to the effect that I admired him mightily but that the most important consideration was to BEAT NIXON, and that I was respectfully asking him to withdraw and get behind whoever could do that. His reply (I'm sure, written by staff, but signed by him) was: Thank-you-I-think-I-understand-the-issues-and-hope-you-will-give-me-the (whatever, benefit of the doubt, somesuch).

To make up for this, consider that in '92, when all those candidates were running and there was no established frontrunner, I ran into an Arkansan couple and said, "Your governor did the best in the debate." This was based solely on performance, without background knowledge.


On Edit: If I may elaborate, partly for self-preservation's sake here: I have repeated endlessly that EVERY SINGLE DEM WHO EVER LOST IS BETTER, MORE DECENT, MORE INTELLIGENT, AND MORE WORTHY than any Repuke who has ever run. If the losing Dems had WON, everybody everywere would be better off today. The problem is that by LOSING, we forfeit the opportunity for the better accomlishments.

[chieftain]

26. I am somewhat sympathetic to your point of view .

We need to keep the concept of winning firmly in mind as we choose candidates . I don't think that means that we automatically disqualify someone because they are Liberal . I believe we have become too timid in proclaiming our beliefs and values . I thought Dean was unelectable because he was governor from a small state without the national security experience that I figured the election would turn on . His policies had been moderate to liberal , but that did not stop the right wing from slandering him as radical . The fact is that we can expect that kind of an attack even if we choose Evan Bayh . The sad truth is that Kerry would have done better had he followed his convictions and voted in favor of the $87B . His inability to explain the Iraq votes along with his slowness in reacting to the Swift Boat Liars put his candidacy behind the 8 ball .
All that said , we have to consider electability in choosing our candidates , but the test is more complex than ideology and passionate belief in the cause of peace should always be an asset not a disqualifier .

[UTUSN]

47. Thanks

But one point: If it appeared I was "disqualifying" anybody based on Liberalism, that's not me. Electibility is the first level for me. Without it, there's nothing. My mother and eldest sister cried over STEVENSON (must be the 2nd run), and we've all been wounded over and over again ever since. I've voted for "Conservative" Dems and "Liberal" Dems. I'm just a Dem, period. And yet, I could piss off most of my beloved co-members on this board, a mystery to me why. I think LBJ was an absolutely great Pres, and that JFK is way over-rated. I loved HHH. WILSON was my first hero, yet is now cited as a NeoCon. I found it odd that there was a LOT of anti-KERRY sentiment here in the light of his being labelled "the MOST LIBERAL senator," whereas DEAN was a Moderate/Conservative governor and is lionized for his "Liberalism". I don't know---I just vote and vote and vote. I *will* say that Joementum pisses me the heck off.

[chieftain]

49. The disqualification statement was not directed at your post .

I see too many posts where we DUer's are ready to drop someone from consideration on the basis of one or two votes or statements . We need to be careful in writing off either those who are too liberal or those who try and develop a vocabulary that allows them to reach out to folks who might want to vote Democratic but are put off by what often turns out to be a misperception about our party .

[recovering democrat]

23. McGovern veteran here too

Worked for him, voted for him and proudly put his bumper sticker on my car even though the place I worked made me move my car to the rear of the building so no members of the public could see it!

[Pastiche423]

24. My 1st vote and how proud I was!

[EFerrari]

25. Present. I've worked every presidential election with my mom

since I was four! Mom's a no sh!t guy. lol

[MirrorAshes]

27. I can't wait to see it!

:)

[ClayZ]

28. Me too!

It was the first year I could vote. I had such HIGH ideals! Still do!

BOO HOO!:cry:

[Capn Sunshine]

29. YO!

San Diego County canvasser, and interviewer for the Harris poll.
I was just reminiscing with someone about that campaign at a McGovern appearance in westwood.

We actually thought we were going to win that one.
So in that respect, not much has changed.

[bobbieinok]

30. look at The Boys on the Back of the Bus about this campaign

reps understood new TV situation....they released statements just before broadcast time...networks had to present 'as is' (ie. rep spin) or do research and be 'scooped'

interesting and depressing reading......how Nixon and reps manipulated the media and thus the voters......dems didn't have a clue about the news world they were in

[mikita]

31. I worked for the McGovern campaign in North Carolina...

what a different time that was... :cry:

[MassLiberal]

32. I was 12 and carried a sign at the polls

And I was heartbroken when McGovern lost. My first heartbreak over an election.

However, it was sweet to see those "Don't Blame Me, I'm From Massachusetts" bumper stickers everywhere after the Nixon administration imploded. I was proud to be from the only state that McGovern carried.

[seventythree]

38. To this day I love Massachusetts

because it was the only state to go McGovern.

[FarLeftRage]

33. Right here...

I passed out leaflets and brochures at the local mall.

Got plenty of dirty looks from the older girl that was stationed at the CREEP table, when I walked by.

[DancingBear]

34. Right here!

First campaign I ever worked on - freshman year in in college.

Couldn't believe he didn't win - "everyone I knew voted for him!" :)

[Slyder]

35. Utahans for Mc Govern

I worked for McGovern in Utah when I was in grad school there. Got some good lessons in practical politics. Most of my friends were terribly disappointed when Nixon won. I has always thought Nixon would win, but certainly not as big as he did. Many of my fellow McGovernites went left after he was defeated and joined a local Marxist group. They wondered why I did not follow, but I was past that stage in my life. Was it Borges who said that a man who is not a Marxist at 20 is a fool, and a man who is a Marxist at 30 is also a fool?

I got one of my prize possessions during that 1972 election year--a Wilbur Mills for President button! Great memories. And I have used the lessons learned in the continuing fight against Bushivism.

[jdots]

39. my first vote

A great man with vision .

[paineinthearse]

40. Me, too!

I was a "student for McGovern" while at UMass. Worked the NH & Massachusetts primaries. It was my first political experience and vote.

We did a pretty good job in Massachusetts, not well in other states.

Let this be my answer to the "what your democratic pedigree" thread.

p.s. The area campaign manager is now the US rep of Mass first CD, John Olver. A member of his senate staff is now US rep in the Mass third CD, Jim McGovern (no relationship).

[greymattermom]

41. Me too

And I was clean for Gene in Appleton Wisconsin too. Went door to door. Little old ladies said McCarthy, he's from Appleton, isn't he? HA

[car54whereareyou]

44. I was born in South Dakota

and I was excited to have the opportunity to vote for him in the first election I was old enough to cast a ballot. When he endorsed Clark it was full circle for me!

[Hardrada]

45. I was a precinct chair in Minneapolis

And supported McGovern earnestly and he got all but two of our votes.
I was active with distribution of campaign lit later. I was disappointed but KNEW Nixon's bad karma would bring him down. And so it did.

[car54whereareyou]

53. It's impressive to me

that you were so active in Democratic politics during those years. Have you stayed involved over the years?

[Hardrada]

63. Yes, I stayed involved.

Ran for office in 1980, no luck, but persist with political efforts primarily from an antiwar point of view. I cannot imagine being politically inactive. I inherited this from my Grandmother who actively supported FDR all 4 times and Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson after that.

[car54whereareyou]

65. Wow!

Thanks for your reply. I agree that an interest in politics can be passed from generation to generation.

[Donailin]

46. hand raised

however I was only 10: my mom campaigned for him and took me to all the events she attended. The only memory I have is collecting all the buttons I could find under the bleachers of some convention hall on Long island

[Spirochete]

48. All I did

was vote for him. also I put a McGovern bumper sticker on my car. Put one on my folks car, too - even though they both voted for Nixon. I don't think they even noticed, except maybe when they sold the car.

[Bluzmann57]

52. While not old enough to vote at that time

I did what I could as a 14 year old kid. My parents were ardent supporters of the good Senator from South Dakota and often took me and my sister along to meetings and rallies. They worked hard for McGovern at a local level. They couldn't really travel a lot as there were two young children to feed and clothe and dad took his responsibility to do that seriously, but we did meet a lot of college age people from Iowa City and here as well who were passionate about McGovern's candidacy. The campaign actually fueled in me an interest in politics that has never wavered, even after all these years and all the shit that has happened since then.

[prairierose]

54. I went door to door for George..

in '72. Somewhere I still have the tshirt I wore during the campaign. It was the first election I could vote in and I was so proud to be able to cast a vote for a man I'd known all my life. He was my Senator & we often met George & Eleanor on Sundays when we went to Mitchell to meet my grandparents for Sunday dinner. There was always a little chatting .

Years later, I spent a week at the state fair campaigning for our young Congressman (Tom Daschle) and spent much time talking with George. It was his last campaign. To this day, I am thankful for the time I got to spend with him & always try to see him when he's back in the state on a book signing tour. When I see him on TV, I always think , "There is an articulate, educated man. Why couldn't the country have the sense to elect him President?"

Today, I wish he would speak out more as a balance to the bs that we hear.

[bajamary]

55. Grassroots worker

Yes, I worked for the McGovern campaign.

Grassroots while occasionally smoking some.......only kidding folks.

It was a wonderful energetic time but hey, I was a bit younger then.
The war of that day was a horrible one not unlike what we see now.

Vietnam was hell and our fragile democracy was twisting in the wind while others were simply blowing in it.

I'd like to see the documentary "Bright Shining Moment". I hope it isn't too nostalgic. Is it?

Work for Peace and Justice

[JoMama49]

56. The McGovern election was my very first time voting! And,

of course, he lost. Then, I would have to wait 20 years before I ever voted for someone who actually won!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

57. Me, too.

I was so disappointed when he lost... I thought Nixon was the biggest, uh, dick imaginable. Little did I suspect that 32 years later an election would be even more depressing....

[msongs]

59. eugene mcCarthy here........where I learned about hate.........-->

me and a black girl friend went door to door for eugene mcCarthy in '68. one old white guy answered the door, read our material and told us we must be a buncha communists...."only a white fag would go door to door with a nigger (girl)".....we told him, "lucky guess!", laughed and said "jesus loves you" as he slammed the door. boy was that fun :-)

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[Cookie wookie]

60. I worked on McGovern's campaign in San Diego, California

Devastated when Nixon won. Just couldn't believe that many American people were that stupid.

Oooo. Deja vu. Except now they are even stupider than ever. Way Way more stupid.

[Haymare22]

61. Still have pix of......

VW micro bus with McGovern stickers on the side!
:-)

[sarahlee]

62. Worked for

Mcgovern in TX

Went to the convention in 68...

[Wholelottaluv]

64. First Post

Just testing.

[ChiciB1]

66. My Very FIRST Political Outing!

I worked for him way back then, and sorry to say... my first foray into Major Politics and I was CRUSHED.

Lived in a small town called Inverness, FL and even back then had bumper stickers swiped off of my car!! Talk about feeling LONELY!! But I stuck it out and have never regretted it! I've always held him in the highest regard. Too bad America missed it!

[montieg]

68. I "Came Clean for Gene" ,

in more ways than just shaving and getting a haircut, in '68 then pounded the pavement for George in '72. Thought then, and today link him with Carter, as the best persons to ever aspire to the Presidency.

[David Zephyr]

69. Me, Too.

Upstate NY and Houston. Proud as hell of it, too.

George McGovern is one of the most decent men to ever grace the halls of the United States Senate.

[eridani]

70. I was in grad school--no time or money--

--however I went Clean for Gene in 1968. I still have a bumpersticker, though. Also the one that said DON'T CHANGE DICKS IN THE MIDDLE OF A SCREW--VOTE NIXON IN '72.

[kodi]

71. here.

in suburban philly.

never give up.