The Ev & Barry Show

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His tangled white curls were damp with perspiration; his face was pale. The pouches beneath his eyes were dark; his voice was hoarse but strong. "Too long have we ridden the grey ghost of me-tooism," he said. "When the roll is called, I shall cast my vote for Barry Goldwater!"

So spoke Ev Dirksen at suburban Chicago's O'Hare Inn, where the 58-member Illinois delegation to the Republican National Convention met in caucus. Goldwater backers burst into wild applause, followed quickly with a roll call that produced 48 diamond-hard convention votes for Barry; the other ten delegates remained publicly committed to no one, but there was every possibility that Goldwater would wind up with at least 51.

Being Consistent. That vote all but crushed Bill Scranton's chances for the G.O.P. nomination. He had gambled heavily on the possibility that he might steal some of Goldwater's delegate strength in Illinois, thereby giving his campaign a psychological lift that would have impact elsewhere. He had known for several days that Dirksen would probably vote for Barry. But, if only because of Goldwater's vote against the civil rights bill, of which Dirksen was the major architect, Scranton had hoped that Dirksen would be somewhat less than enthusiastic about Barry. As it turned out, Ev's strong and lengthy endorsement of Barry not only stunned the Scranton people but surprised the Goldwater forces.

Actually, Dirksen was being perfectly consistent. He is a Midwestern Republican--and one not notable for his admiration of the G.O.P.'s Northeastern "kingmakers." Moreover, Ev and Barry have long been warm Senate friends. Dirksen was instrumental in 1955 in making Goldwater chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, a job that put Barry into constant contact with Republicans all over the U.S. and gave him hundreds of far-flung pulpits from which to preach his views. Finally, Dirksen had said for months that he would back whichever candidate he thought would help the most Republican Senate nominees. He realized that Goldwater might hurt the chances of such Northeast Republican incumbents as New York's Ken Keating and Pennsylvania's Hugh Scott. But he also felt that the G.O.P.'s best chance this year for increasing its Senate membership was in the Midwest and Far West--where Barry is relatively strong. Still, there were days of cautious

Goldwater dickering to assure Dirksen's support. After his vote against the civil rights bill, Goldwater assiduously worked on Dirksen, visited the minority leader's office often, had drinks and dinner with him. Said one top Goldwater aide of Dirksen: "You never quite know what the old rascal is going to do, and it doesn't do to press him. But we were pretty sure he'd be with us when it came time to vote."

"A Rookie or a Patsy?" Ironically, one factor in solidifying Dirksen's stand for Goldwater came from Scranton himself. On June 22 Scranton flew to Washington, dropped in at Dirksen's office and tried to sell the Senator on becoming a favorite-son candidate in Illinois--an obvious ploy to withhold first-ballot votes from Goldwater. This annoyed Ev. When Scranton left, he phoned a friend and thundered: "What do they think I am? A rookie or a patsy? I certainly am not impressed."

Next morning Dirksen was on the phone again, this time trumpeting to a man in Illinois: "The whole world knows that I'm for Barry Goldwater."

As a matter of fact, the whole world didn't. But to make certain that the world soon would, Goldwater staffers moved quickly that same day. Campaign Manager Denison Kitchel stopped in at Dirksen's office, said Barry had been wondering how Ev would feel about making the nomination speech for Goldwater at the convention. Dirksen did not quite say yes, but he certainly didn't say no. A few hours later, Barry himself buttonholed Dirksen on the Senate floor, asked him outright to make the nominating address. Dirksen agreed on the spot.

Thus Dirksen's starring role in last week's drama at the O'Hare Inn was written a week before the Illinois delegation actually met. To add to the irony, that meeting--which turned out so badly for Bill Scranton--was originally set up by Scranton himself. From the moment he became an avowed candidate on June 12, he knew he would have to make some spectacular inroads into what had been counted as a big Goldwater delegation. Illinois seemed to be the most likely possibility.

Most Important People. The day of the caucus, Goldwater got to the motel first. At his heels surged a crowd of rooters, many sporting blackened eyes and chest ribbons that proclaimed.

I WOULD RATHER FIGHT THAN

SWITCH. They took over the lobby, seemed so excitable that when Scranton arrived, he went in the back door against the possibility that he might be bopped over the head by a placard. Dirksen, Goldwater and Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Charles H. Percy huddled for a while before the candidates addressed the delegation separately.

Shortly before 1 p.m., Dirksen and Percy escorted Barry to the Grecian Room, presented him to the delegates. Wearing a PERCY FOR GOVERNOR button, Goldwater rambled for a few minutes about the need for party unity and harmony, especially mentioned his civil rights vote, and said: "I will accept the civil rights plank of the platform, and as President will uphold and enforce the civil rights law. As President, I would want an Attorney General who would enforce the law. My Attorney General would uphold the law or I would get another one." He said that segregation is "foolishness in these times, just as anti-Semitism or anti-Catholicism are foolish. We just can't afford these prejudices at this time."

At midafternoon Bill Scranton made his pitch. "You are," he told the delegates, "the 58 most important people in the United States today." Conscious of the pro-Goldwater atmosphere, he downplayed his differences with Barry, elaborated at length about their personal friendship, then said, "But I have a strong feeling we should win this election--in 1964 and not in 1968." He answered questions about his gubernatorial record in Pennsylvania and his voting record as a Congressman--which Goldwater literature had begun to attack as that of "a reluctant Republican who voted against his own party on 31 key issues." After 45 minutes, Scranton left. Behind him, the trap snapped shut --for Ev Dirksen rose to make his talk.

"You Know . . ." Dirksen pooh-poohed the importance of Goldwater's vote against cloture on the Senate civil rights filibuster. "You've got to remember," Ev orated, "that a vote on cloture is a procedural matter. My own disposition generally is against cloture in the Senate." Arizona Senators, he told the caucus, traditionally vote against cloture. "I once asked my esteemed colleague, Carl Hayden, the president pro tempore of the Senate, about this. Senator Hayden said that if cloture had been invoked on the issue of admitting New Mexico to the Union, Arizona never would have entered the Union. The reason-it was proposed to admit New Mexico to the Union with Arizona included within its boundaries. Had that happened, there would be no Arizona today."

Soothing and smooth, Dirksen made Barry's vote against the bill sound like an act of statesmanship. "I urged Senator Goldwater several times to vote for the bill. But Senator Goldwater had reservations on two titles of the bill--the fair employment and accommodations sections. I was well aware of this," Dirksen said. "You know, it is not my business to quarrel with my fellow Senators. They have convictions. I wouldn't think much of a fellow who didn't have convictions and who didn't assert them."

That said, Dirksen allowed that he'd now like to talk a bit about opinion polls--to bring them "into a little better focus, just a little better focus." Goldwater has recently trailed Late Entry Bill Scranton in the sentiments of rank-and-file Republicans, but Ev recalled that when he won his Senate seat in 1950 from powerful Democrat Scott Lucas, polls snowed him behind by as much as 10 to 1. "Why, some polls even showed me behind the eight ball in 1962!" Ev cried. Then, like a philosophical father, he assured the delegates they needn't fret about Barry's popularity. "I remember," pealed Ev, "a chap telling me last month that he was on his way to California to bet a bundle on Nelson Rockefeller. I told that chap that I would assume he knew what he was doing since the amount he was prepared to wager was not inconsiderable. But I also asked him where he got his information. He replied, 'From the best pollsters of all --the boys in Las Vegas.' Well, polls are polls, and at no time have the pollsters done well in 1964--and the best cure for polls is a strong, fighting candidate."

Because He Wanted To. Dirksen's words were still ringing in their ears when the delegates went through their pro-Goldwater roll call. Chuck Percy, as surprised as anyone by Ev's passion and vehemence, passed when his name was first called, recalled that during his primary campaign he had pledged to vote for the choice of a majority of the Illinois delegation. Said he last week: "I now instruct the secretary to cast my ballot as soon as a majority vote is cast for one candidate--for that same candidate." When the 30th Goldwater vote was registered, Percy--knowing that his chances of winning in November may be seriously hurt by a Goldwater presidential ticket--went on record for Barry.

As soon as the roll call was over, Dirksen hurried out to talk to waiting reporters. Said Ev: "We took care of all unfinished business. There was a motion to take a poll for the purpose of clearing the air and making some contribution to national thinking in this area." A reporter asked why Dirksen voted for Barry Goldwater, and the Senator boomed happily, "Well, because I wanted to."

Predictably, there were instant rumors that Ev Dirksen would become Goldwater's vice-presidential running mate. But Ev is 68 years old and ailing with an ulcer. More important, he loves his role in the Senate, and only hours after the Illinois caucus, Dirksen himself scotched the stories that he would like to be Vice President.

"I'd have to dedicate roads and court houses and bow to visiting princes and kings," he said in mock sadness. "I am not a candidate."

Barry, well aware of the enormous boost his candidacy had gotten, said confidently, "This just means that I have more delegates than I thought I did--maybe 690, something along in there. But I'd like a few more; then I'd say I was over the hump." Later Goldwater was even more confident. "Scranton just hadn't been moving," he said. "He needed a big break, and the only state where he could possibly get it would be Illinois. We had expected to get 40 of those delegates. We got 48. Three others we know we have, so that makes 51--and five of the remaining are leaning to us. So when Dirksen agreed to nominate me, I think that was it. After all, here's a party leader who says, 'You're going to win, and I want to be with you.' "

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