The Price of Fiction

For all his storied acumen as a politician, Lyndon Johnson seems incongruously inept at handling his own candidacy for reelection. Last week he waited until 17 minutes before the filing deadline to notify Massachusetts State Democratic Chairman Lester Hyman that neither he nor any stand-in would oppose Eugene McCarthy in the April 30 presidential primary. Not only is the Massachusetts party organization confused and bitter as a result, but under the terms of a new state law, Senator McCarthy is also guaranteed all Massachusetts' 72 delegate votes on the first ballot at the convention.

Said one disillusioned Administration adviser: "Johnson tries to play politics with the same brand of secrecy he uses in not telling anyone where he's going until the plane has taken off. He has a distaste for national politics born of a lack of confidence that he knows how to play the game."

Not wishing to disturb the fiction that he has not yet decided to run again, Johnson refused to declare for the Massachusetts primary. It might have been best for all the Democrats concerned if Senator Teddy Kennedy, a putative Administration supporter, had put his name on the ballot to keep the state's delegation theoretically uncommitted at the convention, but Teddy gingerly refused. House Speaker John McCormack, 76, also demurred. Postmaster General Larry O'Brien, a Springfield native, volunteered to quit his Washington post and run as a standin, but Johnson vetoed the idea, as well as the proposal that State Senate President Maurice Donahue take on the job.

Don't Step Aside. Thus the President's withdrawal promoted the McCarthy cause in somewhat the same way that George Romney's exit left Richard Nixon a clear field in this week's New Hampshire primary. McCormack, his nephew, former State Attorney General Edward McCormack, O'Brien and at least 20 others promptly resigned their delegate posts. Democratic National Chairman John Bailey explained that he had counseled Johnson to eschew the primaries, telling the President that it would be better to "forego the votes of these few states rather than step aside from leading the land and become a full-time politician instead."

McCarthy's cause was boosted a bit in Minnesota and California as well. In his home state, McCarthy surprisingly was assured of 16 of Minnesota's 62 Democratic delegates during party precinct caucuses. In California, McCarthy partisans held midnight-to-dawn petition parties to sign on voters to validate his position on the state's June 4 primary ballot. Working all night, his supporters collected more than 28,000 signatures. Being first in with their petitions, they gained the top spot on the ballot for McCarthy--a considerable psychological advantage, since Johnson will be represented in California's primary by a standin, State Attorney General Tom Lynch.

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