McGovern/Cronkite in 1972?

When a public figure passes on there always seem to be a couple new previously unheard stories that come out. Walter Cronkite's death brought out one of the more interesting examples of this phenominon that I can remember. Had this story come to pass it would have even altered the McGovern T-shirt in our shop. Evidently Walter Cronkite's name was thrown around for a very short time as a possible Vice Presidnetial candidate for George McGovern.

Here's the story from Frank Mankiewicz, the man who came up with the idea.

"I convened a group of top campaign officials to come up with some options for the candidate to consider as his running mate. Armed with a poll showing Walter Cronkite to be the most trusted man in America, I proposed that the senator put forward Walter Cronkite for vice president.

My idea met with instant, and unanimous, disapproval. He'd never accept, and we'd look bad, colleagues said. Our candidate would seem to be grasping at straws, I was told."

As it turns out Cronkite said that if offered the job he would "have accepted in a minute." There's really no telling how the pairing would have done, but I do have to admit I think a McGovern/Cronkite shirt would have been pretty cool.

Community College Overhaul

As a graduate from a community college who went on to get a degree from a fantastic university and then go to law school I have to say I'm pretty pleased to see that the government is finally planning to increase funding and revise their role in the educational system.

Mike Ditka: Unintentional Obama Trailblazer?

Perhaps this article takes the butterfly effect a little beyond its logical extent, but anything that can connect Mike Ditka to the election of Barak Obama can't be too bad.

Here's the argument: After Republican Jack Ryan dropped out of the Illinois Senate race Obama had a clear path to the seat...until Mike Ditka began dabbling with the idea of running for the Republicans against Obama. Democratic strategists found the "prospect of a young politician with a weird name running against one of the state's greatest sports legends somewhat daunting."

"So, to raise Obama's visibility, they grant him the great privilege of addressing the 2004 Democratic National Convention in prime time. Ironically, Ditka announces he will not enter the race shortly before the convention. But Obama's name is already carved in stone on the schedule."

"Almost 10 million Americans watch Obama deliver a riveting speech that changes his life and American politics."

Whether or not this tenuous argument holds any water I've got to admit that I couldn't have passed up the chance to do a "Ditka for Senate" T-shirt even though it's not particularly retro.

Either way, judging from this picture it looks like Mike's enjoying his retirement without having the burden of a Senate seat weighing him down.

Superheros, Politics, and Twitter

So, I started a twitter account the other day and I've gotta admit it's kind of addicting. One of the coolest things I come across was some sort of campaigning project for young progressives where they are running faux campaigns featuring Superheros for Mayor of Washington D.C.

While I'm usually a staunch Superman supporter I think Wonder Woman will get my vote here. It's tough to argue that her lasso of truth would really bring some change to D.C. Here's a page with links to all the candidate pages.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everybody. I figure there's not many better ways to celebrate than by watching a Muppet version of Stars & Stripes Forever.