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McGovern wasted little time in trying to find a new one. He remained close to Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy at the funeral and sat beside him on the return flight to Washington. There he began an intensive three-day drive to persuade Ted to run. He argued, in effect, that Kennedy would greatly add to the Democratic chances of victory. Kennedy would have a "better opportunity" to fight for some of his causes, such as ending the war and reordering national priorities. McGovern's pitch was soft-sell but persistent. Kennedy's refusal was just as determined. Ted argued with some emotion about his overriding duties to his family, the deep responsibility he feels to all the fatherless Kennedy children and to his mother Rose. "I told him no," said Kennedy later. "I wished him the best of luck. I told him I'd help him in every way I could, and I shook his hand." The refusal was flat and firm. Politely, both men avoided mentioning two other considerations: whether Kennedy's Chappaquiddick experience would be as much a liability as Eagleton's shock treatments and the impact on Kennedy's career if a McGovern-Kennedy ticket were to lose to Nixon.
Unaware of McGovern's overtures to Kennedy and buoyed by an outpouring of encouraging mail and calls, Eagleton had canceled his trip to the funeral and remained in Washington to prepare for his showdown meeting that night with McGovern. He still thought he had at least a slim chance to convince McGovern that he had become well and favorably known, and that if McGovern stuck with him, the controversy would fade in a few weeks. One well-wisher was Eagleton's friend Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, who phoned to congratulate him on his Face the Nation appearance. "You performed magnificently." Replied Eagleton: "Come on over and have a cup of coffee." When Nelson joined him, Eagleton rehearsed the lawyer-like brief he was readying for McGovern. Nelson listened, offered no advice. He shared the anguish of his two friends Eagleton and McGovern, who seemed bent on a collision course.
The Senate was in a late session when McGovern arrived about 7 p.m., walked up to Eagleton and suggested they meet in the Senate's Marble Room, a secluded lounge at the rear of the Sen ate chamber. Both men stopped at Nelson's desk and asked him to join them. McGovern and Eagleton sat side by side on a davenport, Nelson facing them in a stuffed chair. "They just wanted a good friend there," Nelson said later. "I didn't say a word."