When I first heard the news that U.S. intelligence officials were saying that the Russians were working to help the Bernie Sanders campaign, I had a flashback.
Not to 2016, when the Russians actively worked to affect the outcome of the U.S. elections.
Nope, my mind went to 1972.
Richard Nixon didn't want to run against Sen. Ed Muskie, who had been on the ticket four years earlier as Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey's vice presidential nominee.
They much preferred to run against McGovern, who was basing his bid on a promise to withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam.
Muskie's campaign was derailed by allegations that he made disparaging remarks about French-Canadians.
McGovern got the nomination and was swamped by Nixon's re-election push. McGovern lost every state aside from Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Today some Democrats are furiously trying to figure out how to halt Sanders, the clear front-runner after winning the Nevada Caucus on Saturday.
I happen to be among those who believe Trump would like nothing more than to face Sanders, where he could brow-beat the Democrat over his avowed "socialist" beliefs.
Picking your opponent is not new in politics.
It happened in 1972. I'm wondering if it's happening again.
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