George McGovern, much maligned as a radical by Nixon-era conservatives is remembered mainly for running an idealistic yet ineffective campaign for the Presidency in 1972.  However, almost 4 decades later, McGovern and his political philosophy (McGovernism) figures as the most prominent 20th century influence on early 21st century American Politics.

At First, this may seem an odd assertion given some of what may seem so very obvious.  After all, this is the era of Obama, a young and inspiring orator who has commanded global affection with a transcendent style that combines a pragmatism that emphasizes success over ideology with a relentless calm in the face of the most daunting challenges.  These are the qualities that propelled Obama to prominence and victory in the 2008 elections and they remain consitent in his administration's approach to the first 100 days in office.  McGovern's '72 campaign, on the other hand, was dogged by a lack of discipline demonstrated in the Miami Convention speech debacle and candidate McGovern was seen as an ideologue whose rhetoric may have been inspiring to some, though his delivery left much to be desired.  It's no wonder McGovern lost in a landslide that fall and there was no 100 days to usher in his era, but enough contrasting.

Instead I want to focus on what makes the title of this offering (in my humble opinion) valid.  Barack Obama is a direct political descendant of the new Democrat identity that began to emerge in the late 1960's and was first given voice, however unconvincing to the majority of American voters that year, by an unlikely speaker.  McGovern did not have the most sonorous delivery but his message was one based on conviction.  As a longtime Democrat he sought reform in the party and as a committed public servant he wanted to implement policy that would benefit the people who would elect him.  In the Democratic Primaries he was an insurgent candidate that wasn't given much of a chance early but remained a positive campaigner with an emphasis on his main issue, the war.    McGovern also had a significant and lasting impact on the Democratic party primary system.  At the 1968 Convention in Chicago, in a Coup, some of his delegates basically rewrote the rules for choosing a candidate placing more emphasis on elected delegates (primaries and caucuses) and less on supers (party bosses/backroom deals) and adding allocation rules for delegates that rewarded areas that vote heavily Democratic in elections.  His platform in 1972 included the Equal Rights Amendment and a focus on honesty in Government.

Now here we are, about 100 days into the Obama Presidency and I believe we have gotten the McGovern promise after a delayed fashion.  Women's rights were front and center when President Obama signed his first bill into law.  Furthermore, Obama has placed honesty and transparency as essentials to good government not to mention his commitment to staying out of divisive excersizes in partisan politics.  He's also established a timeline to withdraw troops from Iraq (which he campaigned on) though the President is seeking to escalate the effort in Afghanastan much to McGovern's chagrin.

All of this to say, finally, it is time that Democrats, liberals, progressives or whatever we want to call ourselves to figure out what the best route towards progress will be.  It was the ideologues that McGovern gave voice to, the young, the hopeful much like Obama.  But Obama's hope is tempered by grim reality and a sense that ideological purity far from being important is dangerous or at the very least unnecessary.  This is natural as it has all been a gradual development up to this time.  It was the McGovernites, unbroken, though jaded by such a  harsh defeat that recalibrated the new Democrat message and ultimately put Bill Clinton in the WhiteHouse.  It was Bill Clinton that pushed the party to the center in hopes that broader support for the party would mean greater power to implement policies.  Things didn't go according to plan however and soon came discontent with the party as unrepresentative of anything in particular and disenchantment with Clinton as deceptive and calculating.  Then came 2008 as a perfect oppurtunity for resolution of the Democratic Party identity crisis and, also, for salvation from the Bush crisis.  Voters had a choice early on for Clintonism (what I like to call Post-Mcgovernism) redux in the person of Hillary vs. Neo-McGovernism personified in Obama.  It was not all together obvious (and surely took me a while to identify concretely) but here was a leader that represented the core arguments that made McGovern inspiring to a certain group of voters in 1972 the same arguments that were quite mainstream by 2008.  To top it off, the most valuable outgrowth of the Post-McGovernism of Clinton called Centrism, Third Way, Triangulation seemed innate in Obama's political disposition(He wrote a book about it in 2006).  Put it all together and we should all be content with the current administration and it's policy agenda except that we are not availed of a way forward.

The way forward is unclear for the ideological left without a distinct leader though our mission is still progress.  How do we get there?

Note:  I left out all detail of Senator McGovern's fantastic work on world hunger and international food aid which I thought was unfortunate.  So I'll say that Obama's focus on beefing up international aid and soft power is quite representative of what has been McGovern's life work.*