Senator Kennedy’s Campaign

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29177, 11 April 1960, Page 14

Senator Kennedy’s Campaign

Senator John Kennedy’s campaign for the Democratic nomination in November’s Presidential election received a significant boost from the electors of Wisconsin, one of the 16 States which conduct primary elections to decide who shall receive the votes of the respective States at the Democratic and Republican Parties’ nominating conventions. There were, it is true, only a handful of convention votes at stake (31 out of the 761 which a candidate needs to be successful); and issues on which a candidate will be judged later in the year were not debated during the Wisconsin primary campaign. Nevertheless, many good political judges share the opinion of the American correspondent of the “ Economist ” that no other event in Senator Kennedy’s campaign before the actual convention is likely to be as decisive as the Wisconsin primary. Senator Kennedy’s most difficult task may be to convince his party that at 42 he is not too young for the most important elective office in the world. He is a Roman Catholic; and he will also have to overcome the belief, firmly held by many Democrats, that neither Senator Kennedy nor any other Roman Catholic could be elected President of the United States. For several reasons, the Wisconsin primary was regarded as a good test of whether Senator Kennedy’s youth and his religion would be insuperable barriers to his securing the Democratic nomination. Under the unique primary laws of Wisconsin, electors may vote in the primary of either party. Thus the poll in Wisconsin could demonstrate whether Senator Kennedy had a general appeal to the electors,

and particularly whether he could attract support from Roman Catholic Republicans without repelling Protestant voters. This is regarded as a very important strategic point in Democratic Party politics because in big, key States the Catholic vote is regarded as a vital swinging vote. In the event, Senator Kennedy won the Wisconsin primary quite convincingly from Senator Humphrey. Until an exhaustive analysis of the poll has been made the source of Senator Kennedy’s strength will not be apparent—nor the full significance of the Wisconsin primary. But the mere fact of victory over an experienced fellow Senator, a Minnesotan possessing neighbourly advantages in Wisconsin, is impressive evidence of the strength of Senator Kennedy’s general appeal as a candidate. If Senator Kennedy can make a good showing in the next primary—in West Virginia, where the Roman Catholic vote constitutes less than 5 per cent, of the |ptal—there will have to be a Reassessment of what is cabled" the Catholic issue” in American politics.' The party leaders may yet conclude that Senator Kennedy’s religion is not a political disadvantage, but an advantage. In the longer run Senator Kennedy may help to end the regrettable religious prejudice in American politics. Commenting on the possibility that many Catholics might vote for Senator Kennedy simply because he is a Catholic, Joseph Alsop said no-one could complain about this because “ Catholic voters cannot be “blamed for resenting the xun- “ written rule excluding “ Catholics from the highest “ office at least until the silly “ rule has been decisively “ broken ”.