George McGovern's crushing loss to Richard Nixon in 1972 haunts the Democratic Party. He was a charismatic, very liberal candidate who ran on a 'troops out of Vietnam' platform. He was adored by his largely middle-class followers and by most of the media. He ran an insurgent primary campaign that turned out to be successful, against the odds and the party's establishment. But he never convinced most voters, particularly working class voters, that he'd stand up for them. He only won one state in the general.
John Judis thinks Obama's electoral profile looks kind of like McGovern's. It's not too late to change that profile, and Obama's natural constituency is larger that McGovern's. But still, it's not the kind of candidate you want to be compared with...
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