Announced today, and covered nationally – George McGovern is near death and is unresponsive.
Just last Saturday night, my wife and I attended the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, in which they did “A Lincoln Portrait” (A. Copland), in which McGovern was the narrator. I was at first concerned – how could a 90 year old man stand and do a 20 minute narration in synchrony with the orchestra? But the conductor, Delta David Geier (a friend of mine, since I sing in the South Dakota Symphony Chorus), is clever – he recorded George, and thus George did not have the ordeal of standing for 20 minutes. Instead, he spoke briefly to the crowd for a moment, and I thought he did ramble a bit when he did speak. Republicans and Democrats joined in a standing ovation following his impromptu remarks. He then sat down, and the orchestra began playing this very moving and stirringly patriotic piece. The reading was good, very good. George wrote a Lincoln biography among his 25 books, so he is a scholar on the matter of Lincoln.
I have met him perhaps 6-7 times since arriving in SD in 2009. SD is a small state, so if you are interested in politics, you can move into town, and 5 days later, have a 20 minute conversation with Tim Johnson for the contribution of $50. In IL, talking to Dick Durbin is much more expensive. SD though is a cheap state to do politics in.
I went to George McGovern’s 90th birthday party. The guy was (6 months ago) still quite witty. He spoke, and said, “I’m 90, and I’m glad to be here. When you are 90, you are glad to be pretty much anywhere.” I spoke to him, and everyone at the party got a minute with him. A gracious man, a hard worker, a tenacious campaigner, and a man who strongly believed in the Democratic Party.
About a year ago, my brother-in-law (a well-known engineer in the solar energy area) was the head speaker at George’s annual conference. We met him there, and got a picture with my wife and George.
George is much-beloved in SD, and his passing, which appears to imminent, will be a sad occasion. George is the reason we have Tom Daschle, Tim Johnson, and had Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin.
I too believe in the Democratic Party. So, watch this space, my friends.
Thank you for this diary.
McGovern got the first vote I ever cast for President. He was in Wisconsin a lot that year. He came to Milwaukee a couple of years ago to campaign for his grandson, who was running (unsuccessfully) for a seat on the the City Council.
Last week, when Arlen Specter died, I thought about McGovern, and how long it has been since he served in the Senate. Specter had quite a long tenure as senator — five terms — and yet he and McGovern did not overlap. McGovern lost his seat in the same election (1980) that Specter first won his.
Interesting point. Note that McGovern ran, won, and was successful ENTIRELY in the pre-Reagan era. I think that it’s pretty clear that the political landscape PRE-Reagan/Goldwater and POST-Reagan/Goldwater were totally differnt. Pre-Reagan, Republicans were Rockefeller and that type – fiscal conservatives who belonged to the Sierra Club and supported abortion rights. Post-Reagan, different.
George McGovern wouldn’t have a chance in today’s SD. Really hard to win here as a Dem. You must be a Blue Dog.
Enjoyed reading of your recent personal experiences of George McGovern and how well regarded he has been in SD since they booted him from office in 1980.
However, other than political party affiliation and losing a SD Senate re-election bid, there’s nothing similar about Daschle and McGovern.
They both got elected to the Senate from a deeply red state. You don’t live here, and so you have no idea how hard it is to run AND WIN as a Dem in SD. Daschle did fine. Not progressive, but a successful senator.
McGovern ran in an era in which Frank Church was the senator from Idaho. Frank Church? He was really liberal. Things were very different 30 years ago. Today, the attitudes are deeply set
Only recently has SD swung to being within the ranks of the wing-nut states. Not sure why politically it’s less like Iowa and more like Kansas.
My guess is because it borders Wyoming, which took a dramatic rightwing turn over the past 50 years.
I’ve never been able to figure out the Indiana – Illinois difference either.
Quayle’s relatives ran the Indianapolis paper during a critical transition period in US politics. How you got from Birch Bayh to Evan Bayh in a generation. How you lost politicians like John Brademas.
Southwestern Michigan is traditionally Republican. Fred Upton’s district is just north of South Bend-Elkhart area.
The KKK had a stronghold in the 1920s in Richmond.
Labor was stronger when Birch and Brademas held forth, as this American Prospect article, Abby Rapoport, “Where Indiana Goes, So Goes the Nation” describes.
Right now, the presence of Wellpoint, Eli Lilly, and other healthcare and insurance companies in Indianapolis area means that a lot of folks might feel thei jobs threatened by Obamacare. Not to mention that suburban rings of cities tend to vote Republican and conservative. And Indianapolis is relatively prosperous enough for the suburban ring to outweigh more traditional urban voters, like one would find in Chicago.
Is there a difference between Illinois and Indiana that can’t be explained by the size of Chicago?
Indiana Klan.
There was the Indiana Klan. Takes a long time for cultures that get inbred to die out.
That’s probably some of it. They were active in rural counties near here until the end of the 60s. I can only remember one incident in this county about that time. As THD says upthread, the ring of counties surrounding Indianapolis have been quite red up to now. We’re pressuring a few from the south this cycle, since they were recently gerrymandered into the IN-9th. It will be interesting to see if we’ve made any headway.
South Dakota needs to send us more George McGoverns. Thanks for this diary.