Nothing to write home about here.  A marginal choice but McGovern was going down anyway.

The replacement for Eagleton after he withdrew from the ticket due to revelations of his psychiatric treatment.

Shriver was supposed to provide appeal to Catholic voters, and a link (albeit remote) to the Kennedy legacy.

Neither worked, but it didn't matter much since McGovern was probably the most unelectable candidate the Democrats ever nominated, and Nixon was close to unassailable that year.