We Know Who Governs The Nation
There are always precious family mementos that are passed on to the next generation. The gem we discovered survived three cross country moves and is as fitting today as it was during the 1968 Presidential election. Amongst my mother’s belongings, we unearthed a cut out newspaper ad produced by the Yale “University Campaign for Humphrey and Muskie.”
My mother volunteered for Humphrey-Muskie in Connecticut and gave me my first political assignment. My brother and I positioned ourselves in the Yale Bowl end zone where we held up HHH signs for the one TV camera. Her organizing strategy was to do whatever was necessary to deliver Connecticut.
The Yale student group behind the newspaper ad had the same mission. The students were dealing with widespread apathy as the general election rapidly approached. Humphrey had survived a bruising and tragic primary and young voters pined for a better candidate. The students’ ad pulled no punches:
WHO WILL GOVERN THE NATION?
NIXON and Agnew?
Wallace and LeMay?
LIBERALS ACT NOW, STOP CRYING
Robert Kennedy is Dead
Eugene McCarthy is Not a Candidate
Nelson Rockefeller is not a Candidate
We Are Getting Down to The Nitty-Gritty
Time is Short, The Choice is Clear and Critical!
Humphrey — Muskie
Need Your Help and Money
It’s a safe bet that these Yale students were not operating on polling research, but on gut instincts. It takes some nerve to say “Liberals act now, stop crying. Robert Kennedy is dead.” The stakes were too high. They went all in.
The cringe inducing ad was on message and effective. New Haven’s turnout helped give Humphrey the boost he needed to win Connecticut’s eight electoral votes by a narrow 49–44% margin. Wallace took 6% of the vote.
Fifty years later, the ad still resonates. We live in turbulent times with the integrity of our democracy at risk.
In just one hour, President Trump’s campaign manager was found guilty while his personal lawyer and “fixer” pleaded guilty and implicated the President in violating election law. The Mueller investigation has gone from securing guilty pleas and verdicts from the President’s inner circle to granting immunity to the CFO of the Trump Organization.
Democrats are on the verge of riding a giant blue wave in state and federal elections. Yet just like in 1968, there are opposing forces tugging at the party from its different wings. Will Democratic voters turn out in large numbers and coalesce around primary winners?
Time is short. The choice is clear and critical. Democrats, act now and stop complaining.
We know who governs the nation.
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