Waggling Away

One of the main troubles with Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Butler is that every time he opens his mouth he waggles his tongue, and every time he waggles his tongue he fans up a sirocco. Last week he did it again: in Washington, Butler invited a group of top reporters to a private dinner and began waggling. Items:

P:Massachusetts' John Kennedy, Butler made clear, is his Democratic presidential candidate. If Kennedy wins in the Wisconsin primary, Butler predicted, he should cop the nomination. But if he arrives in Los Angeles with as many as 500 delegates in his pocket and still falls short of the big prize, most Catholics will regard it as "an anti-Catholic maneuver," with dire consequences in the general election.

P:Should Kennedy fail, Butler believes that Missouri's Stuart Symington or--maybe--Minnesota's Hubert Humphrey could beat Richard Nixon next November. Texas' Lyndon Johnson "doesn't want to win as badly as many Democrats." In a convention crisis, Butler hinted, Johnson might throw his support to the least-promising candidate, in order to lose the election and enhance his own position as Senate leader in a Nixon Administration.

P:Butler would be "awful unhappy" if the convention selected either Johnson or Adlai Stevenson. Trembling with emotion, he raked over his grudge against Stevenson who, he claims, doublecrossed him in 1956, after promising that Butler not only would remain as national chairman but would be active manager of Stevenson's presidential campaign. He was able to stay on as a mere figurehead, says Butler, only because House Speaker Sam Rayburn "forced" Stevenson to retain him.

P:Butler promised that he will relentlessly press the issue of civil rights and party regularity. Soon, he will announce the appointment of Eleanor Roosevelt as.chairman of a new group to draft some stiff civil rights platform proposals. The chances are "very strong" that he will send forth "task forces" of lawyers to investigate and recommend reprisals against the seven skittish Southern states which have indicated they may revolt rather than swallow a too-bitter civil rights pill.

Day after the dinner, Butler's words were thickly spread over the nation's press, attributed to an anonymous "high Democratic source." The source was soon revealed and moans of anguish and anger rose from Democratic leaders. Hubert Humphrey demanded that Butler quit his job. "Unfortunate," grumbled Sam Rayburn. "Very unfortunate," echoed Harry Truman. But the prospect was that Paul Butler would remain at his post until after the Democratic Convention in July. Then he will leave, unmourned by Democrats.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.