The Campaign: A Question of How Big

Experts of every description—politicians and pundits, sociologists and foreign ministers—will dissect exhaustively the results of the 1966 midterm election in the U.S. Yet as the campaign moved into its final days, few could agree on any hard estimate of the outcome.

At stake are myriad local offices ranging from county sheriff to township assessor, more than 6,800 state legislative posts, 35 governorships, 35 U.S. Senate seats and all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. According to the polls, many Americans—up to 30% in certain races—have lodged themselves squarely in the "undecided"...