Senator Kennedy At Work In The Indiana Primary

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31678, 14 May 1968, Page 6

Senator Kennedy At Work In The Indiana Primary

(Frdm

H. L. VERRY.

managing editor of the New Zealand Press Association, who is visiting the United States on a leader grant from- the State Department)

INDIANAPOLIS, May 8.

" I watched Senator Robert F. Kennedy charm tens of thousands of people in a barnstorming climax to his campaign for the Indiana Primary, which he won yesterday, and it was a memorable experience.

It was high-pressure, person-to-person campaigning of a kind unknown in New Zealand for at least the last generation. Senator Kennedy’s campaign showed all the advantages of professional skill, experienced organisers, and ample funds advantages for which he has been criticised. But it showed more. It showed that Robert Kennedy, whether he reaches the top or not, is a force to be reckoned with in American politics.

Senator Kennedy by no means : matches the calm assurance of his brother, who I remember in absolute command of a presidential press conference, going direct to a TV audience of tens of millions, in Washington six years ago, but Robert Kennedy has qualities of doggedness, determination and a flair for politicking which none of his opponents can afford to ignore from now on. This does not mean that his Indiana victory, which was convincing, but not overwhelming, has given him -the key to the White House. He has a long, hard row to hoe, and it may be that at the Democratic Party’s Convention, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, with formidable support already assured, and without contesting a primary, may win nomination. He already has the endorsement of several Cabinet members such as the Secretary of Agriculture, Mr Orville Freeman, and, if nominated, Mr Humphrey will win the support of many voters who are implacably opposed to Robert Kennedy. Senator Kennedy may fare better or do worse as the spotlight shifts to Nebraska, Oregon and California, but it seems likely that he, rather than Senator Eugene McCarthy, will fight it out with Vice-President Humphrey on the convention floor. Personal Appeal I went to Indiana to see and hear the end of the primary campaigns, and spent a day each with Senator McCarthy and Senator Kennedy. The Governor of Indiana. Mr Roger D. Branigan, had closed his rather laconic campaign before I reached his state, so I did not see him in action. Both Senators had been campaigning vigorously for weeks, and it was clear that both relied heavily on a direct personal appeal to voters at street and hall meetings, rather than any remote appeal by television or radio. Political campaigning here, even for a primary, is alive, full of thrust and incident, and a real endurance test for the candidates. I followed Senator McCarthy through Crawfordsville and Lafayette in West Indiana, then flew to the city of South Bend, east of Chicago, and back to Indianapolis. With Senator Kennedy the next day I travelled from Fort Wayne to South Bend, then by motorcade to La Porte and the cities of Gary, Hammond and Whiting, which form part of the industrial complex of East Chicago. It was in these cities that Senator Kennedy won heavy support, and after watching his reception there on the eve of the poll, 1 was not surprised. There were some obvious contrasts between the two Senators, as one had come to expect from their TV image. McCarthy, handsome, dignified, almost noble in mein, spoke in low key, almost too modestly. He used dry wit to good effect in ridiculing his opponents: he drew warmth from the crowds at some points, but not at others. His sincerity shone out. None would dispute the words of one of his chairmen that: “Everyone knows Eugene McCarthy is an honest man.” Strength Grew Kennedy was more outgoing, spoke more forcibly, punched his points home with the most explicit statements of “Why I am running for president of the United States,” and of what he would do if elected. He spoke and acted like a man who expects to reach the White House, whereas McCarthy at times seemed to lack that self-confi-dence. Before I set foot in Indiana, 1 had heard many criticisms of Kennedy—his opportunism, his self-seeking, his readiness to use his wealth to buy votes, his quick adaptation of tactics to the needs of the immediate time and place, his lack of real appeal to mature voters rather than to the thousands of adulatory students who flock around him. When I heard his first speech of the day at Fort

Wayne, 1 felt that many of the criticisms of his superficiality were justified, but as the long hard day went on, his strength and image seemed to grow rather than wane.

Despite their wide variations in manner, style and personality, both McCarthy and Kennedy seemed, to an outsider looking in, to make substantially the same appeal to the voters. Both expounded visions of a new America which will achieve things still undreamed of. Both wanted to end the Vietnam war and bring the troops home, though both emphasised they were not advocates of withdrawal without successful negotiation. One felt that on the Vietnam war President Johnson, with his initiative in negotiations with Hanoi, had robbed both candidates of their head of steam.

Both spoke of the need for an urgent attack on poverty and on the many problems, racial and otherwise, of urban America. Senator Kennedy, in speech after speech, reminded his audiences that the war in Vietnam is costing SUS6OO million a week, and outlined what he would do if some of this money could be devoted to social needs at home. In South Bend Addressing an audience at South Bend, Senator McCarthy said: "1968 is a testing of America. In the past, we have had a second chance in almost every crisis. I don't think this is true today. We can only begin to unify America by first revitalising democratic procedures. In this campaign we are calling upon a constituency of conscience, reason and common purpose." Senator Kennedy told his audience in the same city the next day that America was a great, compassionate and generous nation, but a united people could make it better yet. He stressed the need to heal divisions, find jobs, break down barriers to better understanding. Both made some criticisms of the Johnson Administration, but these were not barbed or venomous, and one wonders if the gulf between the Democratic part; machine and either of these “rebel” senators is unbridgable. If Vice-President Humphrey gets the nomination, most Americans, think there is little chance of either Senator Kennedy or Senator McCarthy appearing as his running mate, but it will be interesting to see if differences are widened or narrowed in the vital months ahead. Personal Triumph

Although there is no doubt that expert advance work had a lot to do with the crowds that lined the streets for Senator Kennedy on the day before the poll, veteran journalists, travelling with him, agreed that the acclaim he won that day was a personal trimuph. He fell so far behind schedule that people who had gathered to greet him had to wait, two, three, four hours for his arrival. Those who had gathered in the late afternoon waited long into the night to hail him. At one point two children waiting with flowers were wakened from their sleep on the roof of a car to meet the candidate. The cameras whirled again. When Senator Kennedy stopped at a medical centre in Gary, he was almost crushed by a Negro crowd waiting to cheer him. Negro Vote Senator Kennedy polled more than 80 per cent of the Negro vote, but Negroes >do not account for more than about 12 per cent of the whole vote in Indiana. It made no difference when the motorcade moved from Washington Street, one of the most depressed Negro areas ip Gary, to middle-class Negro areas or well-to-do white sections. The cheering crowds were still there. There was nothing comparable in Senator McCarthy’s tour the previous day. At times Senator Kennedy had literally to be held up by his aids as, standing in his open car, he drove slowly along while hundreds tried to clasp his hands, to touch him, to jump on to the car. It was an amazing spectacle. Greeting him as I left the aircraft when we returned to Indianapolis at 12.30 am., five hours late, I said to Senator Kennedy it had been quite a day. He looked worn, as he had every right to be. But he quipped: “The day’s not finished yet, not nearly.” Nor was it. As he left the

airport, a new crowd, mostly students, was waiting to cheer him in the early morning. What Senator Kennedy and Senator McCarthy have in common is their tremendous appeal to youth. Critics, especially of Senator Kennedy, say this is the limit of their appeal. One contemptuous citizen to whom I spoke while Senator Kennedy was addressing a crowd in Hammond said: “If 15-year-olds could vote he’d win, but what adult could vote for that man?” Student Interest I can only testify, as an outsider looking in hastily on the American scene, that I found the intelligent interest of young Americans, and their deep personal involvement to the point of sacrifice, one of the outstanding features of the campaign. In the Indianapolis headquarters of both Senators McCarthy and Kennedy, there were scores of eager students working tirelessly for their adopted leader. One efficient McCarthy

press aloe u.s l student of Smith’s who had given up a year of study to work for Senator McCarthy. There were many more like her. In Gary I talked to a group of students who were some of five busloads who had come from Wisconsin to work for Senator Kennedy. “We’ve had about six hours sleep in three days,” he said. These students are not just talking politics on campus. They are living politics. Their interest goes far beyond emotional support for either Kennedy or McCarthy, It stems from the conviction these young people share with their leaders that politics are for the people no less than for the party machines. Student republicans are equally involved. This is the grass-roots democracy which Senator McCarthy says America needs. If the passion for politics which these two able Senators have kindled in American youth is sustained, American democracy must be all the better for it.