Redstate

Yeah, those two losers are the Elder Statesment the Dems have needed.

By Mark Kilmer Posted in 2008 | dukakis | mcgovern | saviors | superdelegates — Comments (6) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

As Hillary clings to her lifelong dreams of being President, Obama has to hit back and the entire Democratic Party looks foolish and, well… bitter. (They are too enlightened to embrace religion or to own guns, though.) I am one of those who "lamented" that it would take a vaunted Dem leader to bail to end this nonsense, and the only Dem who fit the bill was Bill. Well, Clinton has his own interests after which to look this time.

I could have been wrong. Two of that party's elder statesmen have embraced Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen's scheme for a superdelegate convention before the Denver convention, at which the superdelegates would decide the winner before the elected delegates vote. (Sure, it could be construed as elitist, but I'm sure Barry O. would have it no other way.) The two Dem heavyweights, the superstars of their party? Try George McGovern and Mike Dukakis, general election blowout losers in '72 and '88 respectively.

This is not a joke.

Read On…

McGovern, who supports Clinton, says it's important for the party to know its nominee sooner rather than later. "We don't want an acrimonious battle all the way to the convention and maybe out onto the convention floor," said McGovern. "We had that in 1972, when I was nominated, and it was very damaging."

His inability to claim the nomination until he had won a floor fight over the seating of some of his delegates left little time for anything else, McGovern says, and thereby contributed to the political disaster of his first vice-presidential pick.

"We even set aside naming a running mate, and when we finally picked somebody, I got Senator [Thomas] Eagleton, only to learn that he had had a long history of mental illness," McGovern recalls. "That was a devastating blow to the campaign. I think if we had had a little more time and a chance to thoroughly vet anyone who was being considered for my running mate, we would have avoided the whole Eagleton problem." That controversy made an uphill climb even steeper.

They didn't check Eagleton's background. Others did, and it was discovered that he had, as a younger man, had undergone electro-shock therapy for exhaustion. Eagleton was out, and party of the Kennedy clan, Sargent Shriver, stepped in. It's not why McGovern lost, of course, but we'll allow him his fantasies.

The Boston Globe piece linked above mentions (and quotes) Dukakis. And there's this:

John Kerry, the party's 2004 nominee and now an Obama supporter, also backs the idea. And since DNC chairman Howard Dean said he'd like superdelegates to specify their preferences by July 1, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Harry Reid have also endorsed the concept. Add to those voices US Rep. Barney Frank, a Clinton supporter, who said yesterday that superdelegates really should have declared already - and certainly should do so by early June. "It's not in our interest to wait until August to get a nominee," he said.

So they do not want a nominating convention. That's fine with me. They can throw a party, chase their whiskey with beer, poke fun at President Bush, and maybe act like Annie Oakley with a six-shooter in a duck blind. (Isn't that how they hunt in 'Frisco?)

To recap: McGovern and Dukakis are the Democrats' elder statesmen descending from the august mountain in the sky to save their party. This is so much fun.

But where the heck is Mondale?