About last night in Philadelphia: Part II, Bernie Sanders Is Not Eugene McCarthy, Thank Goodness

Bernie Sanders 2016

Eugene McCarthy 1968

In my last blog post, I explained why the allegation that the 2016 Democratic Convention was rigged is way off base -- and that the last rigged Democratic Convention was nearly half a century ago, in 1968.

There is another big difference between 1968 and 2016.  And that difference is attributable to Bernie Sanders’ wise understanding of the consequences of failing to close ranks within the Democratic Party. I suspect that a number of his supporters may not be aware of the historical precedent.  They should be.

In 1968, Senator Eugene McCarthy got into the race because no one else was challenging President Johnson’s re-nomination (due to the Vietnam War).  McCarthy was understandably upset at the failure of the Convention to nominate him, even though he received a plurality of the popular vote in the 14 primaries -- and his and Senator Kennedy’s popular votes were 70% of the total.  It was perfectly reasonable to conclude that the Convention was rigged by the Establishment. (A man quite enamored with himself, McCarthy likely also saw it as a wound to his pride.)

In 1964, McCarthy had been seen as a possible vice presidential running mate for LBJ and he had had been a long-time political ally of his fellow Minnesotan, Vice President Humphrey.  But after the Convention, he only gave tepid support to Humphrey – and did not campaign at all for the Humphrey/Muskie ticket.

This decision by McCarthy had grave consequences.

There was a three-way general election race in 1968: Humphrey, Richard Nixon, and segregationist George Wallace. In the middle of the Vietnam War and protests against it, and in the midst of several years of periodic riots in the streets of American cities, the country had far more reason to be divided then than in 2016.

McCarthy abandoned the field, and many of his supporters did so, as well. The result: Nixon defeated Humphrey by a razor thin margin of 0.7 % of the popular vote.  

Source:  http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showelection.php?year=1968

As a consequence, the Viet Nam War, which Humphrey would have pulled out of, dragged on for another 7 years. The efforts of the War on Poverty were either reversed or died on the vine. The Warren Supreme Court was replaced by the Burger Court and later the Rehnquist Court. The political "success" of Nixon's Southern Strategy set the table for the rightward shift of the Republican Party that has culminated in what now is the Trump/Pence/Cruz Party.

I remember well 1968, the first year I was eligible to vote. I supported Kennedy, but had no problem voting for Humphrey in November – the consequences of a Nixon Presidency were quite predictable, as far as I was concerned.  But I was more of a history and political junkie than most. 

This history is surely known by Senator Sanders, who was 26 years old in 1968.  Indeed, I would not be surprised if he was one of the activists who did not vote for Humphrey because the Vice President was not ideologically “pure.”  But Bernie Sanders clearly learned from history.  Indeed, the dangers of a Trump/Pence government in 2016 are even more obvious than those posed by a Nixon/Agnew government in 1968. 

So Bernie knows this history and its relevance to the current moment.  With that knowledge, he now shows that he is not doomed to repeat the sad history of 1968. 

Bernie's followers all need to recognize the wisdom of the elder they have thus far so enthusiastically followed.