Here's George McGovern on CNN explaining why he repealed his October endorsement of Hillary Clinton and now favors her Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama. "I don't want to see a repeat of what happened to me in 1972," when Democrat McGovern was defeated by Republican Richard Nixon in a landslide. Just — wow. Harsh.

It's worth noting that the lightly fictionalized Hillary Clinton portrayed by Joe Klein (yes, I know) in his novel Primary Colors justifies the less savory political tactics of her husband Bill, aka Jack Stanton, in 1992 by saying he needs to avoid being destroyed the way McGovern was in '72. From the movie:

Libby: The point is Eagleton. Remember, Jack? I must have know you, what, two days then? We hear that McGovern had chosen a vice president who had electric shock therapy. And I consider the possibility that we may lose to that fuckbrain Nixon. Before that, I was absolutely convinced we would win.

Libby: And this one, he takes me out. We go to an outdoor Cuban joint. My head's in my hands. I mean, life has end. I say, "They did it! The CIA." I can't believe that Tom Eagleton would really be a nutcase. They had to have taken him and made him crazy. It couldn't be that McGovern was a complete amateur!

Libby: I said to Jack, "We got to get the same capability as the CIA." Remember, Jack? "We have to do dirt, too." And you said, "No. Our job is to end all that. Our job is to make it clean. Because if it's clean, we win. Because our ideas are better." You remember that, Jack?

Jack Stanton: That was a long time ago.

Susan Stanton: Libby, you said it yourself. We were young. We didn't know how the world worked.