Yellow Alert

"What has New Hampshire got to do with the price of eggs?" snapped a Humphrey henchman after Jack Kennedy's impressive primary victory last week. Said a Stuart Symington lieutenant: "Have any of the oldtimers given up? The professionals have been through this before." Such talk was more and more frequent last week around the Washington campfires of Jack Kennedy's rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. The names of notable unbeatables who had been beaten--Taft, Kefauver, Stassen--were lovingly recalled. There was a lot of big talk about stopping Kennedy in Wisconsin April 5, or if not there in West Virginia May 10. But the plain fact was that Kennedy's rivals were scared. Nobody was panicking yet, but every Democrat was operating on a yellow alert.

Late Recognition. After weeks of muted weekend campaigning, Hubert Humphrey started moving fast in Wisconsin, even crossed paths briefly with Rival Kennedy at the Intonville Airport. Shaking hands at a Kenosha factory gate, Humphrey was delighted to discover that more and more people were recognizing him. In the midst of his rising enthusiasm, the buoyant Humphrey still had pensive moments. After an overtime session of handshaking with deaf children at a school in Delavan, he was asked why he spent so much time with nonvoters. Replied Humphrey: "I guess it's because Jack's got a feeling he can win. Me, I'm not so sure, so I'm going to have some fun." Missouri's handsome Stu Symington wound up two weeks of galoshing around snowbound southern Illinois at a rally in the gymnasium of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Herrin (pop. 9,331). More than 400 party zealots, including virtually every Democratic candidate for local office or for the national convention from 19 southern Illinois counties, gave Symington a heartening welcome. It was, Symington said, "the best political meeting for me since 1948." But for a man campaigning in the friendly sector of a neighboring state, it was not good enough. Indeed, few Illinoisans seemed aware that an incipient president was in their midst.

Early Declaration. In Washington, Symington held several meetings last week with his top strategists--Lawyer (and onetime White House aide) Clark Clifford, Representative Charlie Brown and Administrative Assistant Stan Fike--to mull over the situation. There were predictions that Symington would make his formal declaration of candidacy earlier than planned--around April 1. But some of Symington's own high command felt that it was a lot later than he thought. Said a St. Louis advocate: "Symington has waited a year and a half too long to put together the kind of organization Kennedy has. What Kennedy has to do after Wisconsin is to catch one of several states. If he can get a big one, this boy has got it. If he can move one of the big boys, we can forget all about the convention in Los Angeles."

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