He Who Hesitates

Chester Bowles, ex-adman, ex-governor, ex-ambassador to India, is now an ex-aspirant for re-election as governor of Connecticut. And he is somewhat surprised; a year ago, the Democratic nomination seemed to lie in the palm of Bowles's big, friendly hand.

When Bowles returned from India last summer to his handsome home at Essex, overlooking the Connecticut River, he wanted to 1) write a book, and 2) run against Republican Governor John Lodge, who beat him in 1950 by 17,000 votes. Bowles's book, Ambassador's Report, came out in January, but Bowles delayed an announcement of his candidacy.

He knew that his old partner and fellow Democrat William Benton had been savagely attacked by Joe McCarthy. Benton has publicly claimed that McCarthy's enmity does not hurt a candidate, but Bowles had been away for almost two years; he had heard horrendous reports of McCarthy's strength, and he wanted time to appraise it. Besides, he thought he could have the nomination whenever he made up his mind.

He had the backing of canny State Chairman John M. Bailey, and in a January poll, he ran ahead of his closest competitor, ex-Congressman Abraham A. Ribicoff. But while Bowles pondered, the politicians lost patience; while he played Hamlet, Ribicoff played Romeo, wooed and won party support. Even Bailey switched. At a Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Hartford, Ribicoff got a bigger hand for standing up and bowing than Bowles got for making a speech.

One day last week, the Hartford Courant reported that Bowles's chances for the nomination "have gone glimmering." That day Bowles formally bowed out.

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