Kennedy's Veeps

Barnstorming through Nevada last February, Presidential Hopeful Jack Kennedy dropped word at a press conference that it would sure be fine to have a Western Governor as a running mate. Nevada's Governor Grant Sawyer soon got the word. Sawyer's friends mentally crossed off those Westerners who plainly had no chance--California's Pat Brown (like Kennedy, a Roman Catholic), Washington's Albert Rosellini (Catholic), Oregon's Mark Hatfield (Republican)--and came to the logical conclusion that Kennedy certainly must have been talking about Grant Sawyer. As the Sawyer pride swelled, so did his admiration of and enthusiasm for Kennedy.

In Kansas last March, Kennedy told reporters that Governor George Docking stood "near the top" of any list of vice-presidential choices, and Kennedy pointedly declined to name any others who were as "outstanding" as the Kansan. Docking is still neutral, but he has a warm spot in his heart for Kennedy.

In Michigan for months, Kennedy and his front men have been hammering home a telling point to all the state's top Democrats: Kennedy would like to balance his ticket with a Midwestern Governor whose record of liberalism can be counted on to woo the votes of labor, farmers, Negroes, minority groups. To Michigan Democrats this can only mean their outgoing, job-hunting Governor G. Mennen ("Soapy") Williams.

Subtly. Kennedy and his aides have planted the hope of the vice-presidency in the bosom of many a man who will be controlling votes at the Democratic Convention. Usual procedure is for Kennedy or an aide--often Brother Bob or Ted--to huddle with a hopeful and then analyze the situation. The analysis is penetrating, and the conclusion, though unspoken, is inescapable: the listener has just the right qualities, and, what is more, Jack likes him. Since almost any respectable, non-Irish, non-Eastern non-Catholic has the basic qualities, the field is extensive.

The same "liberal Midwestern Governor" message that Kennedy men slipped to Soapy Williams has reached Iowa's Governor Herschel Cellel Loveless, and Minnesota's Orville Lothrop Freeman--and it fits them just as aptly. Farther West, Kennedy's braintrusters have spread news that they are also considering Washington's Senator Henry ("Scoop") Jackson, New Mexico's Senator Clinton Anderson, California's Senator Clair Engle, and even Arizona's Congressman Stewart Udall. South of the Mason-Dixon line, their only live entry has been Florida's Governor Leroy Collins.

The vice-presidential gambit is as old as presidential politics, and even the gullible know in their political hearts that no real promises have been made. With the smell of victory in the air, the Kennedy forces are ready to make that more than clear. "The field is wide open," said a top Kennedy lieutenant last week. "The wider open it is, the better it is for Kennedy." Everybody but Harry Truman is eligible.

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