"Clean for Gene" may not be the popular slogan it was on college campuses in 1968, but outspoken political veteran Eugene McCarthy still has a message for America.
The former senator and presidential candidate spoke to a standing-room- only crowd of nearly 200 in Minor Hall last night about his experiences in politics and his suggestions for improving the way Americans elect their president.
McCarthy peppered his speech with dry jokes and quotes from Machiavelli and John Adams and criticized the structure of the Electoral College, the news media's influence on politics and the office of the vice president.
"The Electoral College is a good idea, but has been corrupted over the centuries, principally by Republicans and Democrats," McCarthy said.
He suggested replacing the winner-take-all system, which awards all of a state's electoral votes to the candidate who wins its popular vote, with a system of districts that awards separate electoral votes for the candidate who wins in each district.
We must realize that "the differences within the states are as great or greater than the differences between the states," he said.
McCarthy also suggested eliminating the vice presidency because it "puts people in line for the presidency who couldn't do it on their own. The vice president clutters the campaign."
The news media was one of McCarthy's favorite targets for reform because "they not only cover politics, they control it. We need to get television out of politics," he said.
He said young people should get involved with the political process to secure the establishment of a viable third party to rival the dominance of the Republicans and Democrats, who he said have created a "stalemate in government."
"The young people have to take the initiative the way they did in '68," he added.
McCarthy is "one of the most important and, certainly, vocal political figures of the last century," said Alex Theodoridis, chief of staff for the Center for Governmental Studies, which sponsored the event. "He has obviously thought about this issue in great depth."
"Historically, he provides us with a perspective that is unique," Theodoridis said.
"I thought it was very interesting to hear his opinions on current issues, given his historical experience," said first-year College student Simon Matthews. "It was surprisingly a lot funnier than I expected."
McCarthy began his political career in 1948 when he was elected to the House of Representatives from his home state of Minnesota and served in the U.S. Senate from 1958 to 1960.
He became an outspoken critic of escalating American involvement in the Vietnam War, and his campaign for president in 1968 was quickly adopted by many members of the anti-war movement. They shaved their beards and cut their long hair to campaign door-to-door with the slogan "Clean for Gene."
After one of the most tumultuous primaries in American political history, which witnessed incumbent Lyndon Johnson's withdrawal from the race and Robert Kennedy's assassination, McCarthy lost the nomination to incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey at the controversial 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago.
Last night's talk was the second installment of the CGS National Symposium on Presidential Selection, which brought former Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes to the University last week.
Upcoming events for the symposium include panel discussions on the electoral process March 20 and on the Electoral College on March 26 as well as a speech by 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis on April 5.
Commenting on the upcoming events, McCarthy joked, "they will probably be more substantive but I doubt they'll be more accurate."
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