VIEW FROM THE HILL
That '70s Show
Have Democrats learned anything in the past 30 years?
Excuse me, but I think I've seen this movie before. I know the characters; I know the plot, and, regrettably, I think I know how it ends.
Let's see now, a Republican president is in the White House, which he won in a close election. An endorsement term looms on the horizon, but the future is uncertain. The economy is not doing well and a sinister ideology threatens the world.
There is no shortage of potential challengers in the Democratic Party. At the head of the list is the man who ran a tight race before, a former senator and vice president. Some quietly wish he wouldn't run again, but he burns with ambition and has dreamed of being president since he was a young man.
His formidable presence is not a deterrent to other Democrats. As usual, the Senate is crowded with wannabe presidents raising money and traveling to Iowa and New Hampshire. There is the tall, lanky New Englander who is tired of waiting, the South Dakotan who has served his state well for years but clearly now has an ideology that no longer is just Midwestern. There is the solid moderate who has taken strong stands on both sides of the political aisle.
There are others outside the Senate, including a governor from a small state and an unlikely black candidate from New York City who is loud and feisty.
The cast also includes the well-connected party chairman, close friend and confidant of a former popular president. And a prominent actress who tries to direct the Democratic Party from Hollywood. And last but not least, there is a young Ted Kennedy, not a candidate but certainly a player.
A young Ted Kennedy? Yes. You see, this show was 1972, not 2002.
Richard Nixon was the Republican president living down on Pennsylvania Avenue. Hubert Humphrey was the still-ambitious former veep who lost but came close enough that it was hard to deny him another chance.
Those senators--wannabe presidents--included the tall New Englander, Edmund Muskie of Maine, the soft-spoken South Dakotan George McGovern, the solid moderate Henry Jackson of Washington. George Wallace was the governor and Shirley Chisholm the "unbought and unbossed" black congresswoman from New York. Larry O'Brien, confidante to John F. Kennedy, was the party chairman and Shirley MacLaine the Hollywood actress.
So, any resemblance to Al Gore, John Kerry, Tom Daschle, Joe Lieberman, John Edwards, Howard Dean, Al Sharpton, Terry McAuliffe and Barbra Streisand is purely coincidental.
The world threat at that time was communism, not terrorism, and this highly ambitious group of senators was sailing the ship and tacking hard to the left. Mr. McGovern tacked the quickest and the furthest to the left, and, with the help of his brilliant campaign manager, Gary Hart, captured the antiwar crowd. Then, for all practical purposes, Mr. McGovern nailed down the nomination by defeating Hubert Humphrey in California with the help of Shirley MacLaine.
The Democratic national convention was held in Miami and ranks high as one of the most out-of-control conventions ever held. Antiwar protesters were everywhere and tear gas mingling with marijuana smoke filled the air, while Willie Brown of California shouted, "Let my people go." It was a three-ringer worthy of Barnum & Bailey, and when Mr. McGovern finally got to give his acceptance speech, it was 3 a.m. and America had gone to sleep. Or, more likely, had been turned off months before by the man and his policies.
I have never met anyone who knew or worked with George McGovern who did not like and respect him. Even Georgia senator Herman Talmadge, who served with him for years on the Agriculture Committee but was miles on the other side of the political spectrum, spoke highly of this war hero who unquestionably loved America.
He was a good man, a very good man. But he had the wrong message. And in the end, this well-meaning patriot took his party down to its most lopsided defeat, carrying only the District of Columbia and Massachusetts.
So, what, if anything, does this tale of 30 years ago teach us today? First, I think it serves as a reminder just how difficult it is for any senator, no matter how well qualified, to go directly to the presidency. Only two, Warren Harding and John F. Kennedy, have done it since the beginning of this republic. More importantly, though, I believe this tale demonstrates that no matter how it is articulated, no matter how laudable or well intended, the antiwar, peace-at-almost-any price position is a loser for Democrats.
Oh, it will stimulate the extreme left, no doubt about that. And they are the key to the primaries. They will put their money, their emotions, their make-believe president Martin Sheen and even Ms. Streisand's vocal cords behind it.
But before we suffer, as Yogi Berra said, déjà vu all over again, let's rewrite the ending of this movie. Let's send the message that our party realizes the country faces a threat far different and far more deadly than it did in 1972. Today's war is on our own soil with terrorist cells lurking perhaps even in our own states and neighborhoods. Let's respond with strength and boldness, not with the same old failed script that doomed us 30 years ago.
Mr. Miller, a Democratic senator from Georgia, was director of the Georgia Democratic Party in 1972 and was a Henry Jackson delegate to the '72 convention.
