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Again, almost desperately now, McGovern pleaded with Kennedy. Not unkindly, Kennedy said to a friend Wednesday afternoon: "It's difficult for George McGovern to take no for an answer." Finally, McGovern more or less gave up and began to court Humphrey. The Senate was working late on end-the-war amendments, on which each vote could prove decisive, when McGovern talked to Majority Leader Mike Mansfield about a mildly embarrassing problem: since he did not rate high in Senate seniority, McGovern enjoyed no hideaway where he could talk secretly with prospective candidates. Mansfield slipped McGovern his key ring; the candidate could use Mansfield's plush room just off the Senate chamber.
McGovern caught Humphrey's eye, motioned him to join him. "After this vote," Humphrey whispered. McGovern, just as persistent in his new chase, crawled over several Senators to whisper in Hubert's ear about Mansfield's room. Humphrey shook his head, pointed to the office of the Secretary of the Senate, which was closer. Then began a curious game in which George and Hubert tried to avoid press notice by entering and leaving the Senate chamber separately, taking different routes through various doors eventually leading to the Secretary's office, Room S-224. Once their timing was bad and, emerging from different doors, they collided and laughed sheepishly. "Woops!" said Humphrey. The ritual was observed by TIME'S Neil MacNeil, who asked Humphrey if he had been offered second place. "We are talking about some matters of mutual interest," beamed Humphrey. Actually, he had been asked and was firmly declining.
McGovern's pursuit of Humphrey continued on and off inside the Senate chamber. Finally, Humphrey candidly explained why he would not run. He said that he would do anything to help McGovern get elected and hoped to swing some of his followers to McGovern's cause. He had enjoyed talking to McGovern again after the long primary battles. "Just to be his buddy again was a wonderful reward for me." But he added: "Imagine Hubert Humphrey on that ticket, and then you start showing the things we disagree on. Or poor old Hubert, he just had to get on. He just couldn't remain off. He smelled the sawdust again and there he's in the ring. Well, bull. I don't need to be in the ring. I'm just not going to leave myself open to any more humiliating, debilitating exposure. I don't want anything from George. There isn't a single thing he can give me, not one damn thing. And I can maybe help him in a way that nobody else can because I know a lot of people who say they aren't for him."
THURSDAY. Now McGovern s original list was dwindling, but some new names had appeared. As he sat down to breakfast with Humphrey, it was to seek Hubert's advice about such other figures as Shriver, Askew and Idaho Senator Frank Church. Humphrey immediately pushed Shriver but, he recalled, "George wanted to try Askew." McGovern placed a call to the Florida Governor, who was about to leave on vacation for North Carolina. Askew asked for time to consider, and McGovern reached him, again in midafternoon in Asheville, N.C. Askew then declined on grounds that there was too much he wanted to accomplish in Florida.