Humphrey’s Short List Of Running Mates

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31764, 22 August 1968, Page 8

Humphrey’s Short List Of Running Mates

(N Z P A -Reuter—<Copyright)

CHICAGO, August 20.

The United States Vice-President (Mr Hubert Humphrey), confident he has the Democratic Presidential nomination firmly in his grasp, has narrowed his list of VicePresidential running mates to four.

They are: Senator Fred Charris, of Oklahoma; Mr Sargent Shriver, the U.S. Ambassador to France; Senator Edmund Muskie, of Maine; and Governor Richard Hughes, of New Jersey.

Missing from the list is the name of Senator Eugene McCarthy, Vice-President Humphrey’s chief rival for the Presidential nomination, who might have been a logical choice in other circumstance s.

But Mr Richard Nixon’s choice of Governor Spiro Agnew of Maryland as his run-ning-mate on the Republic in ticket is believed to have relieved much of the pressure on Vice-President Humphrey to placate the all-out supporters of Senator McCarthy. Also missing from the list—regretfully in the eyes of the Humphrey strategists is Senator Edward Kennedy, of Massachusetts.

been closely identified with slum problems as a member of the Kerner Commission. It is felt he would have strong appeal for the young, in as much as he is a freshman senator who will be only 38 years old next November. Mr Shriver, brother-in-law of the slain Kennedy brothers, is a former Director of the Peace Corps who later headed the war against poverty. Although 52, he Is considered to have strong appeal to the young, to Negroes and to the voters in the large cities.

Although Senator Kennedy took himself out of the running because of family obligations after his brother’s assassination, there is every indication that he still could have second spot on the ticket by a nod of his head. Vice-President Humphrey considers each of the four on his short list to be capable of taking over the burdens of the Presidency if that should become necessary. He also feels that each, to a varying degree, would add to the Democratic ticket. Senator Harris, co-chairman of the United Democrats for Humphrey movement, has

Senator Muskie, also 52, is chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and is considered a strong possibility for a senate leadership post in event of a vacancy.

A former Governor of Maine, he is an expert on Federal-State relations.

Governor Hughes, aged 59, Is the oldest of the four. His appeal Is that he is Governor of a State which has had to deal with the major problems of a large city.