How many states did george mcgovern win

This article will conclude with a discussion of one reform proposal that gained a measure of support within the Republican Party--the Delaware Plan. Under this plan, states would be grouped into four groups by population. The smallest states would hold the first primaries and caucuses beginning in the first week of March. A month later, the group of second smallest states could begin to hold nomination contests, followed by the next largest group of states in May.

Finally, in June, the largest states would hold their primaries and caucuses. See Table 2. Table 2: The Delaware Plan. May Nominating Future. Presidents: A Review of the Republican Process. Chairman William E. One of the goals of the Brock Commission the Republican Party commission that recommended adoption of this reform was to increase voter participation; if adopted, the Delaware Plan seems likely to accomplish that goal.

In addition, the Delaware Plan offers a glimmer of hope for those candidates unable to raise a fortune in the invisible primary. Small states are less expensive to contest, and perhaps an underfunded candidate could perform well enough in early contests to attract the funding needed for the later contests in larger states.

The Delaware Plan will not be in place in The plan was approved by the Republican National Committee and was on track to be debated on the floor of the Republican National Convention. Just prior to the convention, however, officials from the Bush campaign signaled that Governor Bush did not want to have a debate on the proposal--fearing that such a debate would be divisive--and the convention's rules committee killed the proposal. In addition, the rules committee voted against a proposal that would have empowered the Republican National Committee to change the rules regarding the nominating process without the approval of the full convention.

The main opposition to the Delaware Plan within the Republican Party comes from leaders in large states who fear that they would lose influence if their states had to hold their primaries last. The Democratic Party, which would almost certainly have to adopt the Delaware Plan for it to take effect, has objected that the small population states that would hold early primaries lack racial and ethnic diversity and do not represent the country as a whole.

In addition, there is no groundswell of public support for the Delaware Plan, or for the notion that the primary season ended too quickly. Another potential problem is that the Delaware Plan increases the possibility that no clear winner will emerge from the primaries. If proportional representation rather than winner-take-all is adopted for all Republican primaries, as the Brock Commission also recommends, the possibility that no candidate will win a majority of delegates will further increase.

Although a contested convention could be very entertaining, there are serious questions about whether a modern candidate-dominated convention is capable of negotiating an outcome that would be acceptable to all the factions in the party. The delegates at modern conventions are there primarily because of their loyalties to particular candidates, and not because they are themselves representatives of the party or its members.

If a contested convention did occur, perhaps the candidates would attempt to make a deal among themselves to decide the nominee. If the candidates lost control of delegates, the result could be chaos or deadlock. The Democratic convention had more than 4, delegates and the Republicans more than 2, , a far cry from the delegates who met at the Democratic convention in The exercise of deliberative democracy in a body this large may not be possible.

Lurking in the background of the debate over reform proposals is a more fundamental disagreement about the nature of the political system. On one side of this divide stand those, such as Polsby, who believe that rules and institutions shape individual behaviors and political outcomes, and who emphasize the importance of the McGovern-Fraser Commission rules in reshaping not only the nomination process but also how Americans are governed.

He writes, "Even if the McGovern-Fraser Commission and its successors had never held a meeting, we would have ended up with roughly the system we have now. In Reiter's view, rule changes were the consequences of the decline of partisan identification, the decay of party organizations, and the rise of polling and the mass media.

He argues that party leaders lost their grip over the nomination process even before the McGovern-Fraser Commission. Reforms that attempt to reverse this trend are doomed to failure. If Reiter is correct, however, would-be reformers underestimate the obstacles ahead of them and, even if they are able to effect reforms in the nomination process, such reforms are unlikely to alter how politics works in the United States.

Arthur T. Coleen McGuiness, ed. This reference work contains details about every national party convention held by a major party in the United States through General Eisenhower's success in the Republican primaries may have convinced party leaders that he was more electable than his chief competitor, Senator Robert Taft. John Kennedy's victory in the Democratic primary in West Virginia was viewed as a demonstration that a Catholic candidate could win in a Protestant state.

For a history of primaries, see Carolyn Goldlinger, ed. For a discussion of candidate strategies, see Polsby, William Crotty and John S. For information regarding the presidential selection process, I have relied on an excellent nonpartisan website that provides thorough explanations of party rules and detailed results of all primary and caucus elections, The Green Papers [www. For a guide to current party delegate selection rules, see The Green Papers.

See Goldlinger, It is not always possible to determine caucus turnout with certainty. Due to its position as the first delegate selection contest in the nation, turnout in the Iowa caucus tends to be considerably higher than turnout in other caucuses, but still lower than the turnout in a typical primary.

See William G. There have been close nomination contests. In the Republican convention, Ford defeated Reagan by only votes out of 2, cast for the two candidates. In both the and Democratic conventions, there were unsuccessful attempts to change convention procedures to deny the frontrunner, Carter in and Mondale in , a first ballot victory.

See McGuiness. PSQ has no ideological or methodological bias and is edited to make even technical findings clear to political scientists, historians, and other social scientists regardless of subfield.

Each issue consists of five or six insightful articles by leading scholars as well as 30 to 40 scholarly and useful book reviews. The Academy of Political Science is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in with a threefold mission: 1 to contribute to the scholarly examination of political institutions, processes, and public policies, 2 to enrich political discourse and channel the best social science research in an understandable way to political leaders for use in public policy making and the process of governing, and 3 to educate members of the general public so that they become informed voters in the democratic process.

The major vehicles for accomplishing these goals are its journal, Political Science Quarterly, Academy conferences, and the publication of proceedings or symposia based on conference presentations. The prestige and authority of the Academy are such that statesmen and scholars of all political persuasions have enrolled as members, participated in its conferences, and contributed to its publications.

He was reelected in and in , was an enthusiastic backer of Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. That same year, McGovern took a gamble by running against Republican U. Senator Karl Mundt, who had first been elected in In , McGovern ran for the U. Senate again each state has two U.

Senators , this time in an open race. He was considered the underdog against Republican Governor Joe Bottum, but managed to win by votes, one of the closest U. Senate races in state history. He immediately became one of the Senate's most liberal members, enthusiastically supporting the domestic policies of Kennedy and his successor, Lyndon B.

His major accomplishment was creation of the Food Stamp program, which was to provide Federal food assistance to impoverished people. But he became increasingly focused on overseas and military affairs.

He became an opponent of the growing American involvement in Vietnam and opposed maintaining a large military. In , he was a leading supporter of Robert F. Kennedy and was horrified by the latter's assassination. He was also appalled by the Chicago Police Force's rough treatment of anti-war protesters at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that same year. After Richard Nixon took office, McGovern quickly became a proponent of immediate withdraw of all military forces form Vietnam.

In , he chaired the commission which instituted reforming the way the Democratic Party nominated its Presidential candidates, dramatically reducing the role of party leaders and political insiders. In , McGovern launched a campaign for President. He was given little chance of winning his party's nomination, which seemed to be united around U. Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine. Helped by his campaign manager, Gary Hart later a Senator and Presidential candidate himself , McGovern won several other primaries and the nomination.

His campaign theme was "America, come home. At the convention in Miami, he initially won praise for nominating U. Senator 'Thomas Eagleton' of Missouri as his running mate.

But his campaign was rocked when it was revealed that Eagleston had been treated for depression in a psychiatric ward many years before.

McGovern initially claimed that he was " percent" behind Eagleston, but later his campaign staff persuaded Eagleston to drop out of contention. This made McGovern look bad to his most idealistic supporters and haunted him throughout the campaign. Ultimately, former Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver replaced Eagleston as his running mate, but the damage was done.

Throughout the campaign, he was perceived by the public as a well-meaning but fuzzy minded radical leftist. Taking advantage of McGovern's support for amnesty for Vietnam draft dodgers, decriminalizing abortion, and ending Federal drug laws leaving them to the individual states , Vice President Spiro Agnew labeled McGovern the candidate of "amnesty, abortion, and acid," and the label stuck.

On November 7, , Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant overrun a Confederate camp at the Battle of Belmont, Missouri, but are forced to flee when additional Confederate troops arrive. Although Grant claimed victory, the Union gained no ground and left the Confederates in firm Sorge fought in World War I in the German army, and then earned his Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. US Politics.