Nation: THE GOVERNMENT IN EXILE

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Pride and Persuasion. Yet sometimes this understatement became a form of intellectual pride. Persuasion was somehow beneath him. Talking to delegates uncertain about his position on Viet Nam, he would say: "I've written three books on my positions" or "I put out a position paper on that last week." Though he needed Negro support, he refused to make any special pleas, noting airily that "when the Negroes know my record, they'll come along." They never did. He yearned for the support of César Chávez, a Bobby Kennedy supporter and leader of California migrant workers who has become a virtual messiah to thousands of Mexican Americans. The Senator did in fact have long talks with Chávez. But he could not bring himself to ask for the labor leader's help. He only observed mildly that "we hope you will be with us." Chávez sat on the sidelines.

At times, McCarthy could be petty and vindictive. Robert Kennedy could never understand the apparent hatred McCarthy felt for him—an emotion that seemed to have deeper origins than Bobby's political sin of joining the race after New Hampshire. The bettereducated, McCarthy told an audience in Oregon, preferred him to Kennedy. "Kennedy plays softball," he said at another point. "I play baseball." His flair for the malicious aside showed again when he talked about Speechwriter Richard Goodwin, an early supporter who left him for Bobby, then returned after the assassination, staying on until the last ballot. "Dick Goodwin," said McCarthy, "has been a good and faithful servant—on and off." McCarthy was nevertheless deeply disturbed by the murder in Los Angeles. As for its political repercussions, he noted last week: "If Senator Kennedy had not died, we would have this party under control on Viet Nam."

Whatever McCarthy's feelings may have been about Robert Kennedy as a rival, he was willing to give up nine months of effort for Ted last week. Sounded out by Stephen Smith, Kennedy's brother-in-law, at the height of the Teddy boomlet, McCarthy offered to throw all his weight to the last surviving brother. "Smith said Teddy wouldn't go for it if he had to fight with me," McCarthy recounted. "I told him he wouldn't have to fight with me. I told him I was willing to give all the strength I had to Kennedy on the first ballot—or any ballot." McCarthy's gesture was unexpected, and tears came to Steve Smith's eyes.

Looking to 1972. In defeat, McCarthy stuck to his guns. The traditional show of party unity was beyond him—particularly after what he had seen on Michigan Avenue—and he refused to appear on the convention platform with the winner. He would not, he said, endorse either Humphrey or Nixon. "We've forgotten the convention," he told his supporters. "We've forgotten the Vice President. We've forgotten the platform." For the next two months, he said, he would work for senatorial candidates who supported his view on the war. In the future, he would work to remold the party.

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