Epitaph?

The man himself was still there on the sidelines, refusing to campaign but admittedly available in case of a convention draft. The loyal, devoted, hopeful friends of 1952 and 1956 were still loyal and devoted--but no longer very hopeful. By last week Democratic politicos and amateurs alike were generally writing off Adlai Stevenson as a serious possibility for the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination.

The best indication of Stevenson's fadeout came from Attorney James Doyle of Madison, Wis., a longtime Stevenson friend and advocate, who last fortnight sent out word of an important press conference to announce the formation of a national draft-Stevenson movement, with himself as chairman and chief strategist. But by the time of the press conference last week, Jim Doyle had changed his tune. There would be no draft movement, he said, no Stevenson organization of any kind. His advice to the faithful: "Each Stevenson supporter must decide for himself whether to vote for Humphrey or Kennedy, or simply to refrain from expressing a preference between them."

Stevenson partisans, who once dreamed of a Stevenson-Kennedy dream ticket, now realize that Massachusetts' Jack Kennedy is a far more formidable presidential candidate than they had believed possible. And Texas' Lyndon Johnson has corralled upwards of 300 Southern delegates; Johnson's backers vow their votes will never go to Stevenson. Pennsylvania's Governor David Lawrence, one of the last of the Northern Democratic bosses inclined toward Stevenson, last week flew to Springfield, Mo. to pay public tribute to Missouri's Stuart Symington. Said one former Stevenson follower (now actively campaigning for Kennedy): "There's no draft without an organization. No campaign, no candidate."

If he sensed the change, Adlai Stevenson (who celebrates his 60th birthday this week) did nothing to counteract it. Next week he will leave for a two-month tour of Latin America--about as far away as he can get from the eye of the political storm. As he packed for his trip, he announced that he has declined an invitation to be a delegate to the Los Angeles convention in July (he will attend as an observer). "I think my district will be represented in the convention by the president of a corsetmakers' union," he said wryly. "And I might add that this is not exactly the epitaph on my political career that I had hoped for." Then he hurriedly added that he did not mean "epitaph" as it sounded. As for the rest of the field, Adlai had only kind words: "I think that any of the Democratic candidates being mentioned would beat Nixon. My own candidacy is the possible exception."

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