In 1972, the year McGovern was chosen as the presidential candidate by the Democratic Party, it seemed as if the progressives, the feminists, the black activists, the young, had at last made the Party their own. Reforms in convention procedure, in the selection of delegates, ensured that more women, more blacks, and more young people attended the national convention than ever before. Issues like abortion, homosexual law reform, were debated in public for the first time. The power of the political bosses appeared to be broken, and Mayor Daley was forced off the convention floor. And finally, a candidate was nominated who, whatever his shortcomings, was firmly opposed to the Vietnam War.
Recommended CitationThompson, Janna, Whatever Happened to the Democrats?, Australian Left Review, 1(54), 1976, 22-25.