Consider this a placemarker...

...for a proper remembrance of George McGovern, who, weeks after returning from Vietnam, I got my first campaign job with, and who I cast my first Presidential ballot for.  A lot of who I am, personally and politically, comes from my early association with that great man.

Actually, that may be all there is to say. 

Maybe not. It's a lot, though, and enough for now.

R.I.P., Senator.
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From the "Those who forget history" file.

Jay Stevens quotes Krugman on the potential for an Obama backlash. Krugman concludes…

I hope I'm just a cynical baby boomer who has never really trusted any politician since 1968. But I just have a very bad feeling about the way things are going.

...to which Jay resonds…

Get it? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge! 1968! That's the year of...hold on, here...George McGovern!

Except, of course, it isn't. Well, kind of, I suppose. McGovern did try to rally some RFK delegates at the convention, but after the tragedy in California, the fight was between McCarthy and Humphrey, and Humphrey won. George McGovern was a footnote in the '68 race. Jay's right. If 1968 is the topical year...

...the McGovern analogy is ridiculously wrong.

…but not for the reason he thinks.

Senator McGovern, by the way, deserves better from the left bank of blogtopia than the dissemination of the old Republican canard that his nomination represented a radical shift to the left and that his defeat was the inevitable result. 1972 was a lot more complicated than that.

Worth repeating.

Scott at the NPI blog…

The Iowa caucuses are regarded by many as a crucial harbinger of the campaign leading up to the party conventions. However since 1972, when Iowa started its "first in the nation" tradition, its track record has been mixed.

George McGovern came in third in 1972.

In 1976, Jimmy Carter came in second. In first place was an uncommitted slate. George H. W. Bush won in 1980. In 1988, he came in third.

Recently Iowa has done better as a predictor. John Kerry won the 2004 Democratic caucus by 6%. In 2000, George W. Bush won solidly over a crowed field and Al Gore defeated Bill Bradley by 26%.

In 1996 Bob Dole beat Pat Buchanan by 3%.

So enjoy the political theater that is Iowa, but remember that while a victory does give momentum going into New Hampshire and beyond, it does not guarantee victory or defeat. Just ask Bill Clinton. In 1992, he only received 3%!

Yep. We've only just begun.