re: #129 Brian J.

I’ve just read American Maelstrom by Michael Cohen, about the 1968 election and its legacy, and the short version of my opinion is that your negative opinion is justified. McCarthy was a dilettante, intelligent but lazy as a Senator, who never seriously expected to win and kept talking himself further and further away from positions that made any sense. (I was strongly reminded of a certain junior senator from Vermont.) He was devastated by RFK’s assassination and never pulled himself together to lead his anti-war movement, but his legacy of dovish foreign policy did a lot to keep the Democrats away from the White House for the next generation.

Yeah, I didn’t live it but from the little I’ve read about Gene McCarthy, that was the vibe I got from Bernie too. I think McCarthy could have been a much better leader than he was. I mean I’m biased in favor of RFK, my family especially my dad’s family loved the Kennedys.