I voted for George McGovern (against Richard Nixon) in 1972.

Thanks Bogey & DC. I tried to find a link and couldn't find it for some reason. Actually, I only remember a couple of the slogans mentioned.

Good question DC. The truth is, I'd have to think about it. Ha ha. I really don't remember. If I'm not mistaken, when I was young, the voting age was 21 and then changed to 18, and than back again. Sound familiar???? It may have changed to 18 after I was already 21. I was 21 in 69, but I think the following Presidential election was probably 72 no???? The mind is the first to go I guess.

At any rate, I know I voted in every Presidential election since I've been eligible to vote.

TIS

What was that, the tenth Presidential race that you voted in?



Don Cardi

Bingo!!! That must have been my first election also


TIS

William Henry Harrison was "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" while Herbert Hoover's famous one was "A Chicken in Every Pot."

Of the recent ones I remember Reagan in '84 "It's Morning Again in America." In '92 Clinton did well with "Putting People First", and I thought he was well served in '96 with "A Bridge to the 21st Century", which contrasted himself with an older Bob Dole.

George H.W. Bush ran behind "A Kinder, Gentler Nation" in '88.

Barry Goldwater lost big in '64 with "In your heart you know he's right." I guess America didn't know.

Perhaps, the most wicked campaign slogans were between Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine. Cleveland's slogan was Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine. Continental Liar from the State of Maine. Blaine's supporters countered with the infamous, "Ma, Ma, Where's my Pa? He's Gone to the White House, Ha Ha Ha." the latter referred to the illegitimate children Cleveland had sired.

That was the first one I voted in LEGALLY.

Smartass.

So you were the one!

Don Cardi

And right after that was Polk's "54-40 or Fight" (an old personal favorite).

I was 20 years old in 1984 when I voted for Walter Mondale against Ronald Reagan. Reagan won every state in that election, except Mondale's home state of Minnesota, which he carried, if I recall correctly, by a percentage point.

Yeah.... George kind of lost BIG-TIME! If I had to do it all over again, I'd STILL vote for him, though.

Lincoln - "Don't Swap Horses in the Middle of a Stream"

There's one I've heard of Klydon!

To Klydon, SC or anyone more in the know on this topic than I (which is everyone ).. Adeli (sp) Stevenson? He ran for VP with whom??? And, wasn't there some kind of scandal associated with him????? Or, am I thinking of someone else?

TIS

I didn't go to school in those days (shows in my posts :p)...I did my sums with a piece of charcoal on the back of a shovel, by the light of a whale oil lamp...whales were plentiful in Jamaica Bay in that era...

Stevenson ran against Ike, twice.

Me to.

You're right. Stevenson was divorced, which was quite a scandal in the 40's and 50's for a politician. He lost two presidential elections to Eisenhower by large margins. His running mate in the second election was Estes Kefauve. I remember this because there was strong support among the Democrats to have a young John Kennedy be his running mate in '56.

Stevenson was known pretty much as an intellectual. He had a great line when he responded to a supporter, who said, "You have the vote of every thinking man in America," by saying, "Thanks, but I'm going to need a majority to win."

Slightly off-topic, but has anyone seen the movie Thirteen Days about the Cuban missile crisis? (one of my favorites)

My favorite part in it is when Adlai is talking to the
Soviet representative, and asks him directly if they're installing missiles in Cuba, then says "Don't wait for the translation, just answer - Yes or no!" Then says he'll wait til hell freezes over, and brings out the photographs. Its a great part in the movie, Adlai totally pwns him. Hah.

bogey -

That was an exciting (and very scary) time. I remember hanging out in front of my building, talking with my friends and debating whether we'd have a nuclear war.

As it turned out, we didn't (obviously) but it made us proud that our leader got Kruschev and the Russkies to blink!

THIRTEEN DAYS is a really darn good movie.

THIRTEEN DAYS (2000) - ****

Funny enough, Peter Sellers played himself as an Adlai Stevenson-esque President in DR. STRANGELOVE. "Now Dimitri, don't get hot under the collar..."

Anyway, George McGovern got his ass busted in 1972 because the Democrats were still dysfunctional as hell after the breakdown of the New Deal-party machine in 1968. Worse, McGovern made the unwise move of trusting his campaign hopes on the youth vote. Nevermind that whole Vice-President embarrasment when Eagleton turned out to be a sucker for electric shock. Yikes.

Thing is, I always wondered how better his electoral chances would have been if the election against Nixon had been held in 1973 or 1974, after it became clearer and more obvious of Tricky Dick's involvement in Watergate.

SC, President John F. Kennedy did something that few American Presidents have ever pulled off: Be a Peacemaker without losing face.

That was Stevenson's finest moment.

I have no doubt that McGovern would have beaten Nixon, had the election been held in the midst of the Watergate scandal.

While we're talking about President's and presidential elections, it should be remembered that in 2000 Gore won the popular vote. I say that because so many commentators criticize Gore's campaign strategy.

I should feel confident that this interesting and non-partisan thread will not turn into the typical go-nowhere b.s. political sandbox thread. Right? Right?? Good.

Ironically, McGovern in '72 made the same mistake that Goldwater made in '64: Both took over party machinery in dysfunction (as you said) because of the loss of the previous elecstion. They captured the party machinery with their own people, and aimed their message at the farthest-out faction of the party. The enthusiasm, energy (and money) of the small but vocal number of "true believers" carried through the primaries and to the nomination. Then, in the general election, both Goldwater and McGovern failed to move toward the center. Result: they carried in the general election only those they attracted in the primaries--and both were swamped by "centrist" candidates who characterized them as "extremists."
McCain is about to make the same mistake.

From what I conjured from Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail: 72, sounded like a pretty lame election-year, but I have to agree with you based on what I read in that book.

Oh, and Hubert Humphrey is a tool.

That is all.

I should do a WHAT IF column sometime on 1968.

What if Robert Kennedy wasn't shot? Would his charismatic, populist campaign have won the Democratic nomination over Humphrey?

Talk about a whole different America as a result...

GREAT BALLS OF DOODY!!

THE END IS NEAR!!

RUN FOR THE HILLS AND HIDE YOURSELVES!!

Not only did TB post a political comment BUT he did so after Geoff specifically warned us about hijacking this thread with such political statements!

Maybe you should; it'd be an interesting discussion.