Hillary Clinton is beginning to seem like Hubert “The Happy Warrior” Humphrey to me. The prospect of Hillary running against John McCain feels to me a bit like choosing between Humphrey and Nixon.
Okay, I know there are big differences. It’s 2008, not 1968, first of all. And McCain is more of a loose cannon than the tightly wound Nixon ever was — although they are both western Republicans viewed as outsiders by the GOP’s eastern elite. After prominent runs for office, each has spent some time in different versions of the wilderness before returning to get their party’s nod eight years later.
Regarding Hillary — she feels like the party insider, the same way Humphrey was. If Hillary wins the nomination, I’ll support her over the Republican the same way I once badly wanted Hubert to beat Nixon — with the same earnest sense that we really can’t afford to make the mistake of choosing the Republican.
Yet in 1972, when he badly wanted the nomination after losing in 1968, Hubert pulled out the stops in a bruising August ’72 convention against George McGovern. It’s captured well in the brilliant documentary One Bright Shining Moment. (A number of well-known people are interviewed in the movie: Gloria Steinem, Gore Vidal, Warren Beatty, Dick Gregory, Gary Hart, Howard Zinn, and the man himself, Senator McGovern. Just as good are the contemporary flaks who were pulling the levers.)
Humphrey is portrayed as ready to stop at nothing in his efforts to win the party nomination. California’s former Speaker of the House and SF’s ex-mayor, Willie Brown, plays a prominent role in passionately pleading that they “give me back my delegates” from the California delegation who were ready to support McGovern. Of course, after winning the nomination, McGovern did himself no favors with the Eagleton/Shriver fiasco. You get such a sense, from this movie, of what an opportunity was lost, of what a decent and good turn our nation might have made instead of continuing the Nixon nightmare.
Likewise, as Hillary reminds me of Hubert, so Barack Obama reminds me, in a very loose, general way, of the decency and sense of hope George McGovern provided.
The kind of people we all claim we wish our politicians were, rather than the grasping, self-aggrandizing operatives on the lobbyists’ gravy train whom we disdain.
I hope Obama fares better in the rest of 2008 than McGovern did in 1972. Maybe it’s a chance to win back some of what was so terribly lost back then.
OmbudsBen 
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That would be good. Hillary’s recent comments about Iran and obliteration have not endeared her to me.
Among the amazing comparisons to prior campaigns is finding out that in 1944 the campaigning didn’t begin until … August.
Of the same year. They campaigned from August to November, re-elected FDR, and went on with their lives.
Compared to this interminable campaign, it seems heavenly. Part of me just wants to tune back in in November (6 1/2 months from now?!) to see how it turns out, and avoid the mud that is about to splatter about like a motocross rally held in Okefenokee swamp.
It must be the eyebrows.
Clinton and Obama?
What about Thornton and Nabokov? Roenick? Rivet? Or at least a slam about how the Canucks were eager to start golfing early this season?
Hope all is well Ben.
lo lost ve, of all the erotic attributes, is it the eyebrows that do it for you?
Jeff, I think of you when I see how L’ Habitant are doing in the playoffs — it ain’t over until the last of our neighbors to the north is trying to score as low as possible (golf season!), not high.
Hey Ben,
Just as an addendum to your francais (from my hometown of Montreal), it’s Les Habitants. And bugger me, where did Philly come from blowing the body’s off the puck and from in front of the net. They’re playing like a team posessed. Pittsburgh may have their hands full. They’re small like the Habs are. And Biron’s posessed to boot.
San Jose has looked a little soft against Dallas until the last two. Do you think they can bounce back and win?
Regarding the Sharks — they sure tried to.
I watched the first two overtime periods for game 6, before giving up and going to bed.
They played into the 4th overtime. In effect, they played more than a whole game 7 immediately after playing a game 6 …
this was a tough one, for the Sharks. but they put themselves in that hole. Still, I hate losing to Dallas. And seeing someone with a North Stars jersey on in that Dallas crowd just brought it all back — grrrrrrrrrr.
I watched the whole thing. The Sharks tried, though Turco stood up well. Aside from the great game, I look up and down that Sharks lineup and don’t see the team they should be. They’ve got size and speed, but don’t seem to use it to their potential. Ah well, c’est la vie. At least it’s talk in this town that’s not about Burke going to Toronto.
You’re probably right about the Sharks — at least in the playoffs. It’s hard to knock the job they did in the regular season.
But the game was odd for me in that the puck was in our end of the ice so much. The Sharks seemed on their heels a lot to me, rather than pressing their advantage.
I suppose it’s kind of like baseball where, when the opposing team strands runners, it’s because my team simply did their job on defense. But when my team strands runners, it’s another ridiculous waste of opportunity.
The Sharks seemed like they were spending a lot of time on defense, clinically doing their jobs, and when on offense it was wasted chance after wasted chance. Dumping the puck in the corner and rarely working it in front of the net.
What floors me about the Sharks is that they’re big, and they’re fast, and they have guys with skills in terms of scoring. Yet they’re playing dump and chase on offense, and spending most of their time trying to break up Dallas’s rush. It has to be a confidence issue. That team is too good to play Dallas of all people like that. Come on, Vancouver beat Dallas last year in the playoffs. Detroit, who has similar players, are handing them their ass.
I just hope Philly gives Pittsburgh a good run for their money.
Hey, I’ve missed all your political musings of last month. I’ve been trying to just let the rest of this primary ride out without getting too tangled up in it all.
Anyway, glad to see you’re writing about these events (and China, too). Have you disappeared in May?
Jeff, you’re right about the Sharks. It’s mystifiying. I see the Pens advanced to the finals today — and the Stars are keeping it interesting in the West. I keep waiting for the Wings to put them away, and it doesn’t happen.
Yb: Yes, I guess I have taken a break. Still writing, just not posting. I do have a mildly amusing anecdote to post, but haven’t gotten there yet.
Wise move, removing yourself from getting entangled in the primary! I too am waiting for the Dems to sort it out so we can move on to putting a moral, responsible leader in the White House.