Out of the 1 state Democratic nominees....

[RIP Robert H Bork]

I would say Option 1.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

McGovern.  Just look at the percentages nationally.

[Barnes]

McGovern.  Just look at the percentages nationally.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Mondale.

McGovern took more electoral votes, and that's all that matters.

[Ebowed]

McGovern.  Just look at the percentages nationally.

More important are the regional breakdowns, actually.  The fact that Mondale didn't get the same showing in the Southeast as McGovern, horrible it may have been regardless, is a blessing for the Democratic Party.  Carter arguably prevented a complete collapse of the Democrats in the South at a national level.

Still, it's funny how the electoral map generally grossly expands the size of the victory.  Four in ten people who voted in 1984 chose Walter Mondale over Ronald Reagan.  So evenly spread was Reagan's popularity that only in one state did this manifest as a bare plurality for Mondale.

[perdedor]

Despite McGovern being one of my political heroes, Mondale's loss was worse because of the implications of Reagan winning by such a margin.

If you're talking about the electoral map and numbers, then it would probably be McGovern. It's not often that a major party candidate takes less than 40% of the vote.

[DS0816]

…South Dakota's George McGovern.


And I wouldn't be surprised if the GOP offers up their version of a George McGovern in 2012.

[Ebowed]

And I wouldn't be surprised if the GOP offers up their version of a George McGovern in 2012.

Eh, I don't see Obama getting 61% of the vote or a 49-state sweep.

Unless of course it comes out late in the campaign that the GOP nominee used to set fire to churches when he was involved in a hate group in his youth or something ridiculous.  Which is probably almost as bad as being the candidate of 'acid, amnesty and abortion.'

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

McGovern's loss was much worse... look at the county map. 

Nixon swept all the counties of the following states.

New Hampshire
Vermont
Connecticut!
Rhode Island!!!
New Jersey
Delaware
Indiana
Arkansas
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida
Oklahoma
Kansas
Nebraska
Idaho
Wyoming
Utah
Nevada
Hawaii

19!!!  And he won all but one in West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Maine, Louisiana, Illinois, North Dakota, and Arizona....

[Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey]

It depends how you look at it: if you're taking a look at the national popular vote, and the national popular vote in the winning candidate's states, then Nixon clearly did better. If you're taking a look at how many electoral votes the winning candidate got, how well the winning candidate was able to spread his support across all 50 states, then Reagan clearly did better.

[SvenssonRS]

…South Dakota's George McGovern.


And I wouldn't be surprised if the GOP offers up their version of a George McGovern in 2012.

Okay, you're a pathetic hack even by my insane standards.

[SingingAnalyst]

By the popular vote totals McGovern's loss was worse, but he had pockets of strong support (university towns, voters under 25). Mondale's loss was marked by uniformity in every region and age group.

[Ebsy]

I can't really hold the 68 and 72 losses against the Democrats. Nixon wasn't going to lose those elections, regardless of what he and his campaign had to do to win them.