1972 was  a desperate year for liberals.  Civil Rights Acts were passed, anti Viet Nam protesting succeeded, Martin Luther King was gone, Robert F. Kennedy was gone, Richard Nixon was steamrolling with the Kissinger detente, women’s rights were on the table – and desperation to regain the White House led to fanatical overdoses of liberalism in the Democratic Presidential Primaries.  George McGovern, a liberal senator, was selected to challenge President Nixon.  Today, 2012, the GOP is driven by the fanatical overdose of ‘conservatism’.  Rick Santorum seems to be the present standard bearer.  Are we watching a mirror-image of the 1972 election?

Perhaps.

Senator McGovern was trounced by Nixon – my memory is that McGovern won one State – Massachusetts.  McGovern did not carry his home state of Minnesota.  Both major political parties should have learned a lesson about political extremes.  Our thought is that Santorum might very well win the GOP nomination.  Like the liberals of 1972, the radical right-wing of the GOP is desperate to remain relevant in a changing political culture.  And like the liberals of 1972 – the most extreme candidate will be trounced in the fall elections.

The greatness of our country rests in the simple concept of mature moderation by the people.  We may lean left or right on any given day – but the long term is always defined by moderation.  We are not saying that Santorum cannot win in the general election – but we are saying that, when compared to former Senator Santorum, President Obama is the moderate.  History suggests the more moderate candidate has the advantage.

For the sake of entertainment, let’s compare some quotes from McGovern and Santorum.  Ask yourself, which candidate seems more moderate?  Which candidate seems more intelligent?

McGovern:

I’m fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.

Santorum:

“The idea that the Crusades and the fight of Christendom against Islam is somehow an aggression on our part is absolutely anti-historical. And that is what the perception is by the American Left who hates Christendom. … What I’m talking about is onward American soldiers. What we’re talking about are core American values.”

McGovern:

It is simply untrue that all our institutions are evil,… that all politicians are mere opportunists, that all aspects of university life are corrupt. Having discovered an illness, it’s not terribly useful to prescribe death as a cure.

Santorum:

“I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money; I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money.”

McGovern:

The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one’s country deep enough to call her to a higher plain.

Santorum:

“The question is — and this is what Barack Obama didn’t want to answer — is that human life a person under the Constitution? And Barack Obama says no. Well if that person — human life is not a person, then — I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say, ‘We’re going to decide who are people and who are not people.'”

McGovern:

The Establishment center… has led us into the stupidest and cruelest war in all history. That war is a moral and political disaster – a terrible cancer eating away at the soul of our nation.

Santorum:

“Is anyone saying same-sex couples can’t love each other? I love my children. I love my friends, my brother. Heck, I even love my mother-in-law. Should we call these relationships marriage, too?”

McGovern:

You know, sometimes, when they say you’re ahead of your time, it’s just a polite way of saying you have a real bad sense of timing.

Santorum:

“If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual [gay] sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does. … That’s not to pick on homosexuality. It’s not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing.”

McGovern:

Politics is an act of faith; you have to show some kind of confidence in the intellectual and moral capacity of the public.

Santorum:

“Would the potential attraction to Mormonism by simply having a Mormon in the White House threaten traditional Christianity by leading more Americans to a church that some Christians believe misleadingly calls itself Christian, is an active missionary church, and a dangerous cult?”

Okay, that is enough.  What do you think?  Both men have been labeled extremists in their own party.  Is that true?  Are these men thoughtful and prepared to be President of the United States.  The voters rejected McGovern.  Santorum is about enter the hot forge of intense scrutiny.

One question facing the GOP primaries is one of electability.”  George McGovern might have answered the question for them.