From the north wall of the Cow Palace jutted a $250,000 broadcast booth, newly completed for three TV networks. In the south wing, office cubicles for radio, newspaper and magazine reporters took shape. Telephone men installed 36,000 miles of wire, 3,000 phones. Overhead, a 40-ft.-by-100-ft. banner swung into place, bearing a likeness of Lincoln and the legend "Of the people, by the people, and for the people."
"This convention will be a record breakerno doubt about it," said John Laxalt, a Nevada lawyer, who is a member of the convention's housing committee.
Laxalt...