The liberals' moment : the McGovern insurgency and the identity crisis of the Democratic Party

"When George McGovern lost the 1972 presidential election, Richard Nixon's landslide victory buried more than an insurgent campaign. In resurrecting the largely forgotten story of McGovern's remarkable presidential bid, Bruce Miroff reveals how his crushing defeat produced an identity crisis for liberals torn between their convictions and the political calculations required to win elections--a dilemma for Democrats that has never gone away. Miroff follows the campaign from its surprising rise to its catastrophic fall to remind us how a dark-horse candidate captured the nomination--and then disastrously chose a running mate with a hidden past. Drawing on interviews with dozens of participants--including McGovern himself--who share a wealth of anecdotes and insights, Miroff traces the insurgency to the political struggles of the sixties, explores McGovern's ideology, and assesses the Republican attack politics that linked McGovern to 'acid, amnesty, and abortion.' Miroff shows how the transformative election of 1972 signaled a major shift in the Democratic base--from urban blue-collar New Dealers to suburban, issue-oriented activists (feminists and gay rights advocates among them)--as the party shed its Cold War past and embraced an antiwar orientation. He also illuminates how the McGovern campaign mastered the new game of presidential primaries and explores the formative experiences of a generation of talented young political actors, including campaign manager Gary Hart, political newcomer Bill Clinton, and future party strategists Bob Shrum and John Podesta. In excavating the 1972 landslide, he follows the subsequent careers of the young McGovernites and describes the loss's effects on later Democratic presidential campaigns. By tracing the transformation of American liberalism and sixties idealism from their political crash in 1972 to the muddled centrism of the twenty-first century, The Liberals' Moment shows what the McGovern insurgency has to teach us today--and identifies what Democrats must do in order to reassume the mantle of progressive change."--Jacket Contents Preface Introduction 1 “A Sixties Campaign in the Seventies** Slop the War Gene and Bobby An Open Parly Conclusion 2 Decent Ambition Minister’s Son Bomber Pilot and Peacemaker Historian Politician Senator Conclusion 3 The Left-Center Strategy Before New Hampshire Six Assumptions Beginnings of an Upset On to Wisconsin Signs of War High Noon in California Conclusion 4 A Downward Arc Bitter-Enders fredentiab An Open Convention A Day for Disasters The Eagleton Affair: A Hidden History Conclusion 5 “A Long, Slow Crawl” McGovern among the Regulars Grassroots and Media Politics The Return of the Insurgent “Kiss My Ass!99: The Final Weeks Conclusion 6 “Radical”? “How Radical Is McGovern?" “Hard Truths" One Issue Populism and the Ivy League Early Skirmishes in the Culture War Conclusion 7 A Grassroots Army Organizers Volunteers Managing an Insurgency “A Million-Member Club” Media and the Grassroots The Perils of Openness Conclusion 8 Democratic Insurgency Insurgents Implacables McGovern’s Blue-Collar Problem McGovern’s Jewish Problem Retreat from the South “They Didn’t Do Squat" Conclusion 9 Mass Movements and McGovernites Feminists and McGovernites A Gender “Laboratory" Gay Liberation and the McGovern Insurgency “Brother McGovern1 The Illusion of Youth Conclusion 10 A Textbook for Attack Politics: The Master vs. McGovern “Kick Him Again” For the Réélection of the President Constructing the Nixon Majority The Dirty Campaign Conclusion 11 Excavating the Landslide The Dimensions of Defeat Scorn Theories of Disaster Testing the Theories Omens Conclusion 12 The Legacy of the McGovern Campaign Counterinsurgency Jimmy Carter and the McGovern Legacy Eighties Echoes of the New Politics Democratic Backlash Confusions of Identify Conclusion 13 McGovemites Life after Insurgency The Kennedy Connection Gary Hart and the McGovern Legacy The Clinton Network and the McGovern Legacy “The Original McGovemik” Conclusion Epilogue Interviews Notes Index

a Deeply Perceptive And Stunningly Fresh Narrative Of A Major Turning Point In U.s. Political History. Essential Reading For Anyone Who Wants To Understand Both The Promise And The Pitfalls Awaiting Democrats Who Stand Up For Their Principles.—michael Kazin, Author Of a Godly Hero: The Life Of William Jennings Bryan

brings To Life The Excitement And Furor Of A Time When Americans Were As Divided Over Vietnam As They Are Over Iraq Today.—james Macgregor Burns, Author Of leadership And running Alone

an Elegant Reassessment That Is At Once Broadly Sympathetic And Analytically Candid.—stephen Skowronek, Author Of the Politics Presidents Make

the New York Times - Timothy Noah

it's An Article Of Faith Among Many Centrist Democrats (and Nearly All Republicans) That The Democratic Party Blundered Badly In 1972 When It Nominated George Mcgovern For President. Bruce Miroff's Wise And Informative Book the Liberals' Moment Invites A Peek Through The Telescope's Opposite End. Miroff, A Political Science Professor At The State University Of New York At Albany, Reminds Us Gently That The Real Blunder Was Committed By The 47 Million Voters Who Re-elected Richard Nixon In A 49-state Landslide…today's Democrats Can't Will The Old Politics Back Into Dominance. Their Challenge Is To Expand Their Base Or Make Better Use Of The One They've Got. Shadow-boxing An Imaginary Foe Called Mcgovernism Is Not Only Futile, But Also, Miroff's Book Makes Clear, A Disservice To Mcgovern. He May Not Have Been Perfect, But He Was A Damn Sight Better Than The Other Guy.