Eighty-six years ago today, in the little town of Avon, South Dakota, George S. McGovern was born.

The son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, McGovern entered college at Dakota Wesleyan Univertisy in Mitchell, South Dakota in the fall of 1940, where he began a degree in history that was interrupted by his deployment as a B-24 bomber pilot to the European theater in 1943. He flew thirty-five missions, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions during a flight in which his plane was seriously damaged.

After the war, he returned to finish his degree, then briefly studied for the seminary at Northwestern University before returning to his first interest: history.

For a few years, he taught at Dakota Wesleyan, the school where he met his wife, Eleanor, during the war, but in 1953 he accepted the challenge of the state Democratic chairman to rebuild the party in solidly Republican South Dakota.

A short stint in the House and his political work led to President John F. Kennedy appointing him as the country's first director of the Food for Peace program. He ran for and won the 1962 Senate campaign in South Dakota while suffering from an attack of hepatitis picked up from a contaminated needle used to give him a yellow-fever injection. In the White House.

The question has been asked several times:

Has anyone running for President had a worse political week than John McCain?

Possibly not.  But the contenders are in extended.

The point:  every one of these candidates went on to lose... badly.

Barack Obama promises to end the stale and bitter arguments which have divided this country for 40 years, turned our politics into a blood sport, and kept progress from being made.

Let us review the most recent occasion an insurgent won the Democratic nomination against bitter and organized establishment opposition. It was 1972 and George McGovern, caretaker of the Kennedy delegates after California in 1968, had been given the party rules committee slot that would have gone to RFK and, failing that, should have gone to Gene McCarthy. In the 1972 primaries McGovern used his knowledge of the rules to defeat the presumptive nominee, Hubert Humphrey, with an outbreak of enthusiasm Humphrey could hardly understand, much less emulate.

But then at the convention he tried to reach out to the establishment wing of the party by nominating a labor hack, Tom Eagleton of Missouri, as his running mate. It was a sickening blow that the old politics delivered straight to the reform breadbasket. It also showed that McGovern did not have the strategic cunning or the tactical brass to dance with who brung him.

I've had an interest in history and politics for as long as I can remember, but the 2008 Democratic Primary was the first primary ever in which I cast a vote and the first one of which I paid attention to the actual nominating "process." So, I did not learn until a few months ago that there were such monsters as "super" delegates. After observing the process, reading the great information here at DailyKos, and doing my own research, I've come to the conclusion that the role of "super" delegates in the Democratic Party nomination process isn't...well...democratic! So, when the time comes for the Democratic National Committee to do whatever post-election voodoo it does, I think the whole concept of "super" delegates need to go the way of the "compassionate conservative." I welcome a spirited discussion and debate about this issue, but I'm the stubborn type and have put much thought and research in this diary.

Since I'm an educator in my chosen career, let me start with a brief "history lesson" for those of you who, like me, may not have been so familiar with this process before I go into the "meat" of my opinion. Thanks in advance for the patience of those who may know this information for those who may not!

Just watched a pretty amazing documentary with some great commentary by the likes of Dick Gregory, Gloria Steinem, Gary Hart and McGovern himself. Narrated by Amy Goodman (also features an excellent interview with her.)

I encourage everyone to check this out: "One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern" by First Run Features.

He really picked up RFK's mantle and I would say perhaps even outdid him. I don't think people realize that his landslide loss to Nixon only came after some pretty sinister and ridiculous events. He was very close to surging to political victory during the summer of 72. He said the things that this nation needed to hear and I hope brother Obama knows this story! Tragic to see how right McGovern was and wrong everyone else was, particularly those who voted for Nixon. Hopefully our history will start to reflect this someday.......

Today's the South Dakota Democratic primary, and there would be no better place for Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama to announce this choice for his running mate: former South Dakota Senator George S. McGovern.

McGovern was right about Vietnam and Iraq. He spoke out in 1965 for recognition of the Cuban government, saying that sanctions wouldn't work to bring down the Castro regime. He advocated opening relations with China years before Henry Kissinger made his secret trips for President Richard Nixon. He's been a ceaseless advocate for ending poverty and hunger around the world, something that was recognized by President John F. Kennedy when he gave McGovern the reins of the Food for Peace office. He tried to warn the American public about Nixon's role in the Watergate affair even before the 1972 election, but the voters didn't listen.

First, my main source for this is a great piece by Rhodes Cook on Larry Sabito's Crystal Ball '08 http://www.centerforpolitics.org/...

The progressive movement is following the pattern of growth that the conservative movement showed in the 1960s to 1980s - a pattern that led to domination of American politics for multiple decades.  

Before the "RFK assassination" controversy begins to recede, we owe it to history to assess Hillary's contention that her mentioning it should not have been considered a gaffe.  The argument being made is that she was merely using the assassination as a marker to jog our memory of when the 1968 primary took place.

Many arguments are being offered rebutting the substance of her analogy of 1968 and 1992 to 2008: that the primary season started later, that that it was shorter, that the 1992 nomination was wrapped up well before June, that the proportion of primaries left then (and, in 1968, California's winner-take-all character) is grossly at odds with a situation in which only 86 pledged delegates remain, and so on.  All of that is true, and yet it in some sense misses the point.  It doesn't get at what's wrong with her statement.

To understand her error, you have to realize that she was not simply saying "the nomination contest often continues in June."  She had to be saying "the nomination contest often continues until June -- and that matters."

That difference itself matters -- and it takes us to what may be the real reason for Hillary's gaffe.  More analysis below the fold.

Back in 1943, Irving Stone wrote a brilliant work, They Also Ran, which provides a historical analysis into the men who lost their respective presidential elections, yet, in some cases, may have actually been better Presidents than those they were defeated by.

The book ends with 1943, which means we never get to see how Stone would have rated men like Stevenson, Humphrey, or the like, which is why I decided that I'd have a few diaries on the 'Also Rans'. The people who might have made a difference, had they only been elected, and let our fellow users decide which one of these Also Rans they think might have made a difference.

And so, I'm diving this up into six separate diaries. The first three will revolve around the Democrats, the second two will revolve around the Republicans, and the final will revolve around the various third party candidates we've seen win actual electoral votes in presidential contests.

Here comes Part II, which will showcase Democrats from the 20th Century who are classified as 'Also Rans'. From Bryan to Dukakis, they're all here and they're all ready for evaluation.

She’s baaaaaack, Geraldine Ferarro just won’t go away, and neither will "The Lucky Black Man Delusion". In her most recent appearance she is wondering why Barack Obama didn’t say "thank you" to her, reiterates that Obama is lucky to be black, and says it is "a statement of fact" (note: since 1990 women have a 60 -4 edge over black men in winning statewide elections/reelections). Pat Buchanan — in his latest racist diatribe — agrees with her. In fact, Obama is not just luckier than white women, but white men too! Now old Democrats and Republicans put aside differences for their common racial bond.

As Hillary Clinton's Presidential campaign chances fade away in an embyonic stampede of superdelegates to Barack Obama, at least some of her supporters are pursuing a Plan B, the Vice-Presidency.

http://www.voteboth.com has been formed to push her candidacy with the appealing notion that we should not settle for a candidate backed by 51% of the Democratic Party when we can get a team backed by 100%.

Former Senator George McGovern, who endorsed Hillary Clinton last October, has read the writing on the wall, and today:

...urged her to drop out of the Democratic presidential race and endorsed her rival, Barack Obama.

After watching the returns from the North Carolina and Indiana primaries Tuesday night, McGovern says it's virtually impossible for Clinton to win the nomination.

Who's next?  

and had ask Hillary to give it up

MSNBC Reporting Breaking that Former Sen George McGovern is now urging Hillary to drop out And Will be Soon Endorsing Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic Nomination in 2008.

George previously endorsed Hillary for president in 2007

Confirmed Now by The Page

MSNBC: Former Sen. George McGovern, a Clinton supporter, is urging her to quit the race. He will call Bill Clinton to inform him he is endorsing Obama.

His Original Endorsement of Hillary October 7, 2007

"I think that if we can elect her president, she'll be a greater president even than her brilliant husband," McGovern told the crowd gathered in a hot barn at the Johnson County Democrats' annual barbeque.

I just hope it's not too late to count.  I'm not sure exactly what did it for me, and it's only $20, but it's all I could afford. I'm a student living in London with no income, and getting drained by the exchange rate.  I've been free riding up until this point, but no longer.

Now her surrogates are going waaaaay off script, to the point where they almost seem to be endorsing Barack. Take George McGovern in this article posted on the Huffington Post:

Former senator and Democratic presidential aspirant George McGovern says he sees some striking similarities when it comes to his run at the White House and that of Sen. Barack Obama. But ultimately, McGovern argues, Obama has organized a much wider political coalition and thus a greater chance of electoral success.

That doesn't sound like something you'd say about someone who couldn't win an election.

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