What did George McGovern represent in the '72 campaign?

[tpfkaw]

Ugh, welcome back, Libertas

He's admitted to being Einzige, so I'm afraid you're rather inobservant.

[tpfkaw]

Well, the modern Libertarian movement (and the Libertarian Party in particular) had much of its roots in the New Left, although the New Left had moved in a more socialist and less libertarian direction (hence the establishment of the Libertarian Party) - reflected in the shift from McCarthy to McGovern.  McGovern personally was certainly more open to free market principles (especially with regards to labor and regulations) than the modern Democratic Party, although that was somewhat true of the Democratic Party as a whole in the 70s (since the traditionalist 'liberal' LBJ-HHH wing was stagnant).  But yes, if you asked his supporters if they considered themselves left or right, I would guess >90% would say they were of the left and <10% would claim to be of the right (and most of those would be very stubborn Dixiecrats).