With total respect, Bernie supporters haven't got a clue. I know because I supported McGovern

[FakeNoose]

109. George McGovern was the ultra-liberal candidate in the 1972 primaries

McGovern did OK in the '72 primaries, but only because Ted Kennedy decided not to run. Ed Muskie started strong but then dropped out, Hubert Humphrey did well in the Midwest, Gene McCarthy, Shirley Chisholm, Henry Scoop Jackson, George Wallace all snagged a few primary votes, but nobody had a mandate going into the convention.

So McGovern was selected at a "brokered" convention because no Dem candidate had a clear majority after the fractured primaries. To make things even more confusing, many state delegates (voting attendees) lost their credentials for puzzling reasons. It was definitely something that should never happen again.

Needless to say Nixon (who would have lost to Kennedy or Muskie) won by a landslide mainly because the news media ignored the Watergate break-in story until after the election was over. Woodward and Bernstein were 2 young beat reporters for the Washington Post who kept the Watergate story alive, and almost nobody else paid attention.