For the first time Vice President Richard Nixon has swung into the lead over the Democrats' hottest presidential contender, Massachusetts' Senator Jack Kennedy, the Gallup poll reported last week. Riding a popularity wave after his trip to the Soviet Union, Nixon edged up on Kennedy thus:
July August September
(pre-Moscow) (post-Moscow) Nixon 39% 48% 51% Kennedy 61% 52% 49%
Nixon's greatest strength lies in the Midwest, where he won 54% of the sampling, against Kennedy's 46%. Only in the Democratic South did Nixon fail to poll a majority. Southerners gave Roman Catholic Kennedy a 54% to 46% edge.
Against Adlai Stevenson, Nixon...