Ex-presidential candidate weighs in on current race

 by Allison Denny
 published on Wednesday, February 27, 2008

John Battaglia / THE STATE PRESS

LOVIN' ON McGOVERN: Former democratic presidential candidate George McGovern shakes hands and signs books after his speech in Old Main Tuesday evening.

In 1972, Democratic U.S. Sen. George McGovern lost the presidency in a landslide to Richard Nixon.

Tuesday night, nearly four decades later, the former South Dakota senator addressed the points he wishes this year's Democratic hopefuls would make to a crowd of about 100 in Old Main's Carson Ballroom.

McGovern called Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama "brilliant and capable people," and said this election is historic for the U.S. — no matter the outcome.

"One way or the other, we're going to score a first in American history," he said. "We're either going to nominate and elect the first woman in the 230-year history of our country, or we're going to nominate and elect the first black man in the 230-year history of our country."

McGovern announced his endorsement of Clinton in October, he said, without ever meeting Obama.

Clinton asked McGovern for his support and, remembering her as one of his campaign workers in Texas, he agreed.

"It takes a lot of guts to try to sell George McGovern in Texas, but they did that without any question," he said.

One of McGovern's firmest stances during his campaign for the White House was against the Vietnam War, and his position on the Iraq war differs little.

"Without equivocation, going to war in Iraq was a dreadful mistake," he said. "It's imperative that we get out of there as quickly as possible."

McGovern also addressed the country's annual war-military budget of $515 billion, not including the $250 billion spent on the Iraq war.

"When I first went to the senate," he said, "the entire budget was under $100 billion."

The $515 billion spent every year is more than the combined war budgets of all the other countries in the world, he said.

During his campaign, McGovern said his view on military spending earned him the reputation of being weak, though he supports any measures necessary to defend the U.S, he said, including going to war himself.

"I realize they don't take 85-year-old men, so this may be an idle boast," he said.

Microbiology junior Lev Korovin said he was waiting for a bus when he heard about the lecture and decided to see what McGovern had to say.

"He definitely made some very good and apt points regarding internal policy," Korovin said, referencing McGovern's ideas on health care and a nationwide railway system.

"He sounded like he had his things together and didn't give the impression of someone who stepped away from the political sector," Korovin said.

Family and human development senior Andrea Sceffield said she also enjoyed the lecture.

"I just think it's interesting that the losing candidates always have the best ideas," she said.

The lecture also offered another element to the history and government lessons she learned in class, Sceffield said.

"It's really neat seeing the live connection between what we're learning," she added.

Reach the reporter at: allison.denny@asu.edu.