Encounter on the Prairies

SOUTH DAKOTA

Gentle George McGovern's last minute run for the presidency enhanced his stature in 49 states and hurt it in one --his own. On South Dakota's windswept prairies, the voters like a man who takes their problems to heart, and never mind what ails the big cities or the world at large. Six weeks before the Democratic Convention, McGovern, a onetime college history teacher, en-ioyed a two-to-one lead m a statewide poll. After his abortive bid for national office, his margin dwindled to 2%.

The wonder is that McGovern, 46, was so far ahead to begin with. He is only the third Democratic Senator in South Dakota's 79-year history. Only 38% of the voters are registered Democrats McGovern's demands for a softer line on the Viet Nam war ran directly counter to local sentiment; Army recruiters credit South Dakotans with one of the highest volunteer records in the U.S.

In 1962, after serving briefly as John Kennedy's Food for Peace director, McGovern won election by a bare 597 votes (out of 254,319). He has since sought to ensure his popularity by fighting for stable farm prices and greater investment by industry to stem the drain of young people from rural areas. At the same time, he defended his wide-ranging involvement with broader concerns "We cannot build a wall around South Dakota and not take notice of what is going on in the cities," he explained. "A Senator who alienates urban opinion is of no value anymore. My job is to convince an urban-oriented Congress of the importance of stopping the decline of rural America.

Thundering from Behind. As he carried that case to the country during his brief campaign for the presidency, McGovern lost ground at home. His Republican opponent, hulking (6ft. 4-in.) ex-Governor Archie Gubbrud, was thundering up from behind.

Jolted by the threat, McGovern hurried home from Chicago determined to shake hands and say, "Hi there, in farmhouses, general stores, bars and windy main streets in all 67 South Dakota counties. His sprightly wife Eleanor added her weight--all 91 lbs. of it. Though McGovern has made peace, of sorts, with Hubert Humphrey, he is not anxious to identify himself as a Democrat, his billboards identify him simply as a "Courageous Prairie Statesman." With a stake of nearly $100,000, two-thirds of it raised at a single fund-raising dinner featuring Ted Kennedy. McGovern is investing almost a third of his budget in a door-to-door canvass to woo back the voters he needs. A skillful debater, he put another third of his funds into newspaper and television ads and question-and-answer appearances on radio and TV.

By last week the frantic pace was beginning to pay off. McGovern's lead had risen to 51% v. Gubbrud s 42%. Were it not for the special circumstances of 1968, McGovern might be even farther ahead of his opponent, a farmer who frankly confesses that he is unqualified to discuss national or international affairs, and is promoted in campaign ads with the phrase: "This man represents South Dakota thinking." Says McGovern: "In a straight fight between Gubbrud and me, it would be a slaughter. I think he is the least qualified man I have opposed, and people are shrewd enough to realize it. Yet with the national Democratic Party in disfavor in South Dakota, it is anything but a straight fight. And McGovern will need a great many Republican crossovers to win re-election as a forthright liberal in a consistently conservative state.

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