The Campaign Spell

In a room in Portland's Lafayette Hotel, Candidate John Kennedy dined quietly, then hurried down to the street below. The chemistry of the evening had touched and stimulated him, and he was anxious to get back among the crowds that filled the streets. As his motorcade started for the Portland stadium, the mood heightened. There was a tang of September in the Maine air. The low hum of excited people rose from the four-deep throngs along his route, burst into cheering as Jack Kennedy passed by. The glow of old-fashioned torches, hand-crayoned signs (I'D WALK A MILE FOR JACK) and chants from the youngsters ("Never fear, Jack is here") gave the first stop in his postcongressional campaign a feeling of a long-ago political rally.

Giant's Promise. At the stadium,putting his prepared text aside, Kennedy delivered what reporters agreed was one of his finest political speeches. He spoke of the perils and problems confronting the U.S. "I don't run for the office of the President to tell you what you want to hear. I run for the office of the presidency because in a dangerous time we need to be told what we must do if we are going to maintain our freedom and the freedom of those who depend upon us." Then Kennedy hit his campaign theme of work and sacrifice to make the U.S. future secure. "What shall we do in this country?" he asked. "What shall we do around the world to reverse the trend of history, to take those actions here in this country and throughout the globe that shall make people feel that in the year of 1961 the American giant began to stir again, the great American boiler began to fire up again, this country began to move ahead again?" Jack Kennedy gave no real answer to his own questions; but the crowd was with him as he continued:

"This is not a contest merely between the Vice President and myself. This is a contest between all of us who believe that the future belongs to the United States--all of the men and women of talent and industry and interest and vitality who wish to serve this country, who wish to play a part in its life. I ask the support of all of those who believe that this country can lead the world."

Protection's Hint. Throughout his speech, Kennedy kept his audience of 5,000 listeners rooted to their seats, and some veteran reporters forgot to take notes. Not until he finished was there a great burst of applause and a surge toward the candidate. The Kennedy spell--which he had promised would be cast again, once he had shaken off the legislative frustrations of Washington--was working. It had been that way, increasingly, since Jack Kennedy left Washington and its disappointments behind him the previous day. Barnstorming through his native New England, he encountered larger and more enthusiastic crowds at every airport and rally. (In Manchester, N.H. his pregnant wife Jackie prudently left the entourage and went home because of the crushing crowds and fast-stepping pace.) With each new audience, he seemed to respond more enthusiastically, to work up more steam. At one point he talked as though the rest of the nation wasn't listening, hinting broadly that trade protectionism could solve New England's industrial decline--an attitude quite different from the Democratic low tariff stance set by F.D.R. Said Kennedy in Manchester: "We can protect our textile and shoe industries."

After Maine and New Hampshire, Kennedy raced west in his chartered jet clipper Caroline*to California and Alaska, then headed back to Detroit for the traditional Labor Day speech in Cadillac Square. New England reassured him that the spell was still working. "I am going to carry the campaign to all parts of the United States," he said in San Francisco, "in order to show that this country cannot afford four more years of Republican leadership." Jack Kennedy was off at last, and running hard.

*Named for the Kennedy's 2 ^-year-old daughter; not to be confused with the Presidential jet Columbine III, named for the official flower of Colorado, Mamie Eisenhower's home state.

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