George McGovern was the first candidate I ever volunteered for. It made my day when I actually got to share an elevator with him at the 2008 Democratic Convention. His fight lit up when I told him I was friends with Matty Troy's daughter.
McGovern, a member of The Greatest Generation was a war hero. He was also a man of unparallel decency, who worked hard to end a war we should never have joined in, and who did more to feed the hungry than any American since Herbert Hoover (sometimes in bi-partisan collaboration with Bob Dole).
But McGovern's political legacy is at best a mixed one.
A loser of similar proportions, Barry Goldwater, spawned Ronald Reagan and a political revolution that he might shake his head at, in the way that Marx might shake his head at Stalin.
By contrast, the most lasting positive political contribution of McG's campaign was creating a generation of smart operative like Gary Hart and Bill Clinton, who ran as far and fast as possible to become a different, more electable kind of Democrat.
Though I think a lot of McGovern's message was distorted, even in the absence of Tom Eagleton and dirty tricks, he was going to lose, where an Ed Muskie might have triumphed.
Americans thought rightly or not, that McGovern was not merely opposed to the War, but to national defense. They thought, rightly or not, that McGovern was in favor of leveling incomes rather than leveling playing fields. They thought McGovern was far further ahead of social trends than George ever really was.
The lessons of the McGovern campaign were that Democrats could not let themselves be branded in such a manner if they wanted to be given the opportunity to govern (and implement some of the social goods McGovern spent his life fighting for).
Bill Clinton and Barack Obama understood those lessons and we are all the better for it. George McGovern, a Democratic Presidential Nominee and Liberal Stalwart, Dies at 90 www.nytimes.com
Bag of Dirt Award: How long will it take before Darrell Issa has the blood of innocents and heroes upon his partisan hands? Romney's Benghazi Boomerang II andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com
Most disingenuous column of all time.
Far right wing columnist argues liberals shouldn't vote for Obama because he hasn't been a good liberal.
I guess this qualifies as a voter suppression tactic for use against Democrats who have valid ID. Can a conscientious liberal back Obama? :: Jeff Jacoby www.jeffjacoby.com
Back in the 1970s, liberal Democratic ideas, delivered by people with names like Schumer and Solarz, was a proud and dominant part of the politics of Brooklyn's 45th AD, but with death, Florida migration and other manifestations of demographic (but not Democratic) change, such politics are now the provence of the likes of Allan Feinblum, a bi-polar 73 year old grandfather.
In this week's Brooklyn Courier, Feinblum announces a write-in campaign for the 45th AD Assembly seat, accurately branding incumbent Steve Cymbrowitz's opposition to same sex marriage and refusal to take a position on a Mosque proposed for near (though, contrary to the article, not in) the district, as "pandering."
Sadly, outside of bi-polar grandfathers, there's not much of constituency for Feinblum's sort of politics in the 45th these days, and a panderer who refuses to endorse discrimination (as opposed to the two dirtbags opposing him who champion hatred) is probably as good as we are going to get.
Gatemouth endorses Steve Cymbrowitz. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CF8QFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2F www.google.com
In that supporting the rights of Moslems to build a house of worship, Alec Brook-Krasny shows some courage, in that this will probably lose him somewhat more votes than it gains him, but some perspective is in order.
Between Arabs in Bay Ridge and Bengalis in Brighton, there are a lot of Moslems in Brook-Krasny's AD, and what is most notable here is that Brook-Krasny’s GOP opponent took the exact same position (one hopes that those handling his literature will do their candidate the respect of remembering that, but I have my doubts).
Also notable are the despicable self-contradictory spewings of Greg Davidzon, who in practically the same sentence says that the mosque is a quality of life issue about neighbors being able to park, and then says that people living miles away where its impact will not be felt are right to oppose it.
Davidzon also mentions something about the opposition stemming “demographics”. Now imagine if he said that about an AME church.
I’m glad Brook-Krasny (and his GOP opponent) showed more guts than Steve Cymbrowitz, but will any pol in Brooklyn have the guts to call out Greg Davidzon and David Storobin (who also makes a cameo) as the racist hatemongers that they are? Brighton Beach pol defies Russian community on mosque issue www.brooklyndaily.com
A sure sign of the impending political death of Vito Lopez:
At one time, the Swinging Sixties Senior Center in Italian Williamsburg (as it once was) was run by Tillie Tarantino, the women whose house Vito Lopez used to falsely claim as his residence.
Swinging Sixties was one of the jewels in the crown of the Lopez Empire.
Now Swinging Sixties is being defunded by the City, and is currently hanging on with a temporary grant from Lopez enemy Diana Reyna.
Most notable: nowhere in the article is the Lopez connection even made. Just like Lopez himself, it is only so much ancient history. No hangout for old men: W’burg’s beloved Swinging Sixties Senior Center closing www.brooklynpaper.com