George McGovern, the Last Honest Democrat

George McGovern, the Last Honest Democrat


William Greider

The Nation October 22, 2012

http://www.thenation.com/blog/170740/george-mcgovern-last-honest-democrat

What most people never grasped about George McGovern's
run for President 40 years ago is that it was the last
genuinely open and honest presidential campaign. His
landslide defeat in 1972 taught a generation of
aspiring young Democrats not to try that again and they
didn't. McGovern's quality of earnest candor was deeper
than style or politics. This is who he was as a person,
not a saint or righteous innocent, but constitutionally
inclined to say what he thought, believing most people
would listen with an open mind or at least they would
learn from a truthful discussion of the nation's condition.

Of course, he was mistaken. Yet I saw him up close when
again and again he spoke freely about his views in ways
that injured him, set him up for ridicule or contempt.



Even the reporters covering his doomed campaign would



roll their eyes in disbelief. Me too. Reporters were



the cynics and Senator McGovern was the starry-eyed



idealist. That was more or less the way we told the



story. Looking back after all these years, I feel we



missed the essence of George McGovern's goodness. He



was not naive or ignorant of the hostile context. Given



the desperate state of the union, putting hard truths



on the table was perhaps the only strategy that might



prevail. Anyway, it would be good for the country.







I experienced this as a young reporter for The



Washington Post covering the McGovern campaign



non-stop. The editors knew I was something of a



bleeding heart. But they figured McGovern was a sure



loser (they were right) and so it would do no harm if I



wrote a lot of sensitive mush (they were right about



that too). So I spent the campaign season as one of the



"boys on the bus"--two weeks on the road with the



candidate, then one week or so back home in DC. We had



a lot of fun. Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was the tour director.







I was given only one instruction by my editor--do not



fall for the reporter's standard illusion that what was



happening day by day on the campaign trail would



somehow decide the election results. It didn't then and



it doesn't now. Knowing this liberated me to skip the



thumb-sucking stories on how the horse race was going.



Other reporters, watching the big crowds of ecstatic



McGovern supporters turn out, would succumb and report



that the candidate was finally enjoying a "turn



around." He might not be a loser after all! My



accomplishment was I never fell for that.







But I did sort of fall in love. The candidate was



intriguing on a personal level--sweet and brainy and



deeply thoughtful, a true and generous teacher. He had



a sophisticated world view born of the World War II



experience and an open-armed confidence about America



and its possibilities that I think of as Midwestern



(since I'm Midwestern myself). McGovern's conviction



was liberal optimism and creative thinking could change



things for the better. World peace was the core of his



optimism. How far-fetched it seems now.







The senator's character was reflected in his campaign



apparatus and the people around him. A little wobbly on



organizational skills but a great spirit of mutual good



feeling. A favorite pleasure of mine when I was back in



DC was dropping by the McGovern national headquarters



housed in an old row house on K Street. I literally



would go door to door and chat up whoever I came across



among the people managing his campaign--writing



speeches, raising money, plotting schedules. There were



no security guards at the building nor even a formal



receptionist (though they did have a daycare center for



their kids).







I remember dropping in on the campaign treasurer who



proudly took me up stairs to show me the money room.



There were long folding tables covered with stacks of



envielopes and high-spirited women ripping them open



and counting thousands of dollar bills. I felt welcome



to sit down and start opening envelopes myself. On



another occasion, I was ushered into an office where



staffers were listening to a possible campaign song.



"George McGovern Will Lead Our Crusade." It went on for



many verses while the composer did a little tap dance.



Campaign staffers listened earnestly but decided the



song might to be too radical for the candidate. How



could you not like these people?







Across town was the future of politics--the Nixon



headquarters. There were armed guards, locked doors



with buzzers, special IDs for important people and, who



knows, probably hidden cameras. Everyone called it



CREEP--The Committee to Re-elect the President. McGovern



called it the most corrupt administration in history



and was criticized for exaggeration. CREEP was secretly



shaking down corporations for hundreds of millions and



threatening retaliation to any company that refused.



The extortion was so raw some CEOs complained



publically. Forty years later, the corporate money is



all perfectly legal now and extortion has morphed into



the wholesale bribery that engulfs both parties (though



some donors still prefer anonymity).







The senator's death brings back a small personal



regret. Reporters loved to interview McGovern, knowing



if they pushed the right button they might get an



alarmingly candid response. A month or so before the



1972 election, the Nixon White House cooked up what



became known as the "October Surprise"--the sudden



announcement of peace in Vietnam. About that time, a



small group of reporters were invited to interview



McGovern and I asked the candidate a loaded question:



what did he think would happen after "peace" was declared?







McGovern did not blink. In his patient manner, he



taught a little history of Indochina and concluded that



this "peace" was not the end of the story. In a couple



of years, once American troops were withdrawn, North



Vietnam's army would sweep south, swiftly conquer the



old US ally and unify the two Vietnams. The US would



make a lot of noise but decline to reenter the war.



That of course is precisely what happened three years



later. McGovern's prediction was ignored amid the



celebration of Nixon's false piece.. I still feel a



small regret that I had set up the senator, not because



it made any difference, but because I was taking



advantage of his best quality.







The hardest question to ask about George McGovern's



legacy is whether he made any difference at all. In



some aspects, we can say yes. But for the central



thrust of what he believed and tirelessly advocated, we



have to say, honestly, no. Like McGovern, I imagined



with millions of others that Americans would learn from



the tragedy of Vietnam and never let it happen again.







That was so wrong. We are replaying the tragedy



instead, repeating the same brutal mistakes and, worse



yet, pretending that the bloodshed is noble business.



Since 1972, I count four American wars fought on



foreign soil and many more smaller skirmishes, all in



the name of national security. Each time, the American



dead are honored in sentimental public celebrations.



The speeches express gratitude to their families and



admiration for acts of bravery. No one of any



prominence in politics dares to ask whether they died



in vain or if the killing of many thousands in target



countries has any moral justification. Think of the



questions George McGovern asked. To what end? How are



we any safer as a nation? Is it possible we are



inventing even more risks?







Instead, we hear more talk of war, more planning for



war. We set trip wires for potential wars in scores of



other countries. If they do something bad, we will go



after them. The president can now make war in remote



places by personally punching a few buttons, selecting



individual victims from lists of potential enemies. A



man of peace who frequently makes war.







George McGovern would tell the truth nobody wants to



mention. Instead of finding peace, our society is



drenched in the culture of war, taught to children in



video games and glamorized in fiction and film. On some



twisted level, we have been taught to love war and so



we shall have more of it. Do not mourn for the senator.



Mourn for ourselves.