Rest in Peace, Senator McGovern, my first political hero.
As a junior high school student, I spent hours volunteering at your campaign headquarters after school, cheered like crazy at your campaign rally, and cried inconsolably the night you lost to Richard Nixon, the first (but not the last) time that politics broke my heart.
And you helped me learn my first and, perhaps, most important political lesson. The morning after the election, bleary- and swollen-eyed, demoralized and frustrated, I refused to go to school because I knew the kids would taunt me over the loss. My father, the Good Judge, told me, “So WHAT if they laugh? If they laugh, they’ll only show how ignorant they are. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You studied the issues, made up your mind and then fought for something you believed in. Just because you lost doesn’t mean you were wrong. Now, you put on your McGovern scarf, go to school and hold your head up high. And start thinking about how you can make a difference in the next election.”
That McGovern scarf is long gone, but I’m still holding my head up high because you believed in us and I’ve never stopped thinking about how I can make a difference.
You made a difference to me, Senator. Thank you.
Last week, before I was aware that Senator McGovern was gravely ill, I received a mailer with his name boldly printed across the envelope. I got them periodically and they always tugged at my heart in remembrance of bygone days. It gave me hope that his political influence was still a factor. In my youth, George McGovern set the bar for what politicians should always stand for.