J.F.K. on the Stump

There has never been anything quite like it. In a mid-term election campaign, the President of the U.S. is barnstorming the nation, looking, acting and sounding as though he himself were a candidate for county clerk.

Kennedy's basic decision to go all out was made months ago, when he realized that he would be blamed if Democrats suffered major losses this fall. Polls indicated that a major problem is Democratic apathy--less than 30% of Democrats, as against 43% of Republicans, figured they had any real reason to vote. That, at least, was something the President might do something about.

Once Again, with Feeling. Kennedy campaigns with all the trappings--brass bands, searchlights crisscrossing in the night, scores of motorcycle cops. It seems like 1960 all over again. His theme is certainly the same: the need "to get this country moving again." The Republican Party/ he repeats, says no to "progress," the Democratic Party says yes. Kennedy seldom gets specific about such issues as medicare and tax reform, but he quotes staccato statistics to show how G.O.P. minorities have blocked his programs:' "Last year 81% of the Republicans in the House voted against the area redevelopment bill; 95% of the Republicans in the House voted against the Housing Act."

Last week a Baltimore crowd began to cheer at the sight of the first Secret Service helicopter over the trees. When Kennedy eventually landed, he needed only to smile to draw a swelling roar. The motorcade drove six miles through streets lined with what Baltimore police called the biggest political crowd in the city's history--the estimate was 175.000. In the Fifth Regiment Armory, on the site of the hall in which Woodrow Wilson was nominated in 1912. Kennedy was greeted by an honor guard of Negro R.O.T.C. cadets, a band from St. Mary's School, and the Ladies Swiss Embroidery Workers.

While local politicians beamed on the platform, Kennedy gave the Republicans hell. "I am proud to come back to this city and state and ask your support in electing Democrats--those members of the House and Senate who support the minimum wage and medical care for the aged, and urban renewal, and cleaning our rivers, and giving security to our older people, and educating our children, and giving jobs to our workers. That is the issue of this campaign."

Meet the Press. In New York, one of the most dynamic campaigners in the U.S. did his best to bolster one of the most forlorn. Waiting for Kennedy, Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Robert M. Morgenthau stood alone on the apron at La Guardia Airport. No one seemed to know the pleasant, introverted lawyer who has suddenly found himself thrust into a contest with Republican Nelson Rockefeller. An aide finally ushered Morgenthau over to meet the press, but the conversation soon suffered into silence, and the candidate went back to standing by himself and staring into space.

Kennedy tried hard. He greeted Morgenthau warmly, steered him toward the cameras, invited him into the presidential car. The next morning Kennedy popped over to Newark to attend a Columbus Day celebration, revealed to a heavily Italian crowd of 10,000 a campaign trick of his grandfather's, Boston's John F. ("Honey Fitz") Fitzgerald. "My grandfather always used to claim that the Fitzgeralds were descended from the Geraldinis, who came from Venice. I have never had the courage to make that claim, but I will make it on Columbus Day in this state of New Jersey."

Artful Elbows. Then Kennedy hustled back to Manhattan to watch a Columbus Day parade and to make another try at perking up Morgenthau. On the reviewing stand, Morgenthau shyly took his place next to Kennedy, only to be elbowed aside by the likes of Mayor Robert Wagner and Edward Dudley, Democratic candidate for state attorney general, until he ended up four places away from the President. With Morgenthau forced out into leftfield, Kennedy leaned to his right and had an animated exchange with Republican Rockefeller.

Flying into Pennsylvania, Kennedy renewed his familiar pitch for an even more overwhelmingly Democratic Congress. There was, he said, a grave danger that "the 88th Congress will be in control of a dominant Republican [and] conservative Democratic coalition that will defeat progress. And that is why I come here tonight and ask your help in electing a progressive Congress."

Looking Ahead. Then the President took off for Indianapolis and, although he did not identify him by name, a sharp attack on Indiana's Republican Senator Homer Capehart, who has been urging a blockade or even an invasion of Cuba.

Said Kennedy: "This is no time for rash and irresponsible talk. This is the time for men who talk softly and carry a big stick." The President praised Democrat Birch E. Bayh Jr., Capehart's opponent in November, as a man who would never join "those self-appointed generals and admirals who want to send someone else's son to war."

And so, on to Louisville and an attempt to help Kentucky's Lieutenant Governor Wilson Wyatt in his fight against Republican Senator Thruston Morton. He planned to keep up this same headlong pace right up to Election Day. There remained some doubt about how much he was actually helping his party's assorted candidates--but he was certainly giving it that old Kennedy college try.

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