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No Two Camelots. The Kennedy camp has sought to exploit Humphrey's new ties with the South. Ted Sorensen, one of Kennedy's top speechwriters and strategists, charged on a television panel show last week that Humphrey had already offered the vice-presidential nomination on his ticket "to every Southern Governor." When pressed as to his source, Sorensen insisted: "I know he has." Which governors in particular? "Right across the board." The idea of Humphrey putting Lester Maddox or Lurleen Wallace as close to the presidency as the proverbial heartbeat is, of course, bafflegab, and Sorensen himself later backed away a bit from his initial assertion.
But even at this early stage, speculative ticket construction is an obsessive pastime. Among Southern Governors who are believed to have vice-presidential aspirations are Louisiana's John McKeithen and Texas' John Connally. After considerable comparative shopping, John Kennedy chose a Southerner in 1960. But why not choose Robert Kennedy? Humphrey might be receptive to the idea for the sake of unity; so might Kennedy, if his campaign is faltering, for the sake of his own future. .San Francisco's Mayor Joseph Alioto, who is backing Humphrey, has even proposed a Humphrey-Kennedy ticket for 1968 with the understanding that Humphrey step down after one term and help Kennedy get the nomination in 1972.
A Humphrey-Kennedy ticket would have a certain irony. Humphrey Biographer Winthrop Griffith recalls a scene at the Los Angeles convention when John Kennedy was on the brink of victory. Bobby, a finger thrust at Hubert's chest, demanded the immediate delivery of Minnesota's delegates, "or else." Humphrey poked back and said: "Bobby, go to hell!"
Humphrey declared for Adlai Stevenson although he knew it was a futile gesture that might cost him influence later. He is not a hater, worked closely with both Kennedys and could easily do so again with Bobby. But he is irked by R.F.K.'s money, modishness and restoration syndrome. "You cannot have two Camelots," he says. "There was only one. Others can only be pretenders." And there is also the grating realization that Kennedy, who has sought to expropriate so much of Humphrey's old ideological turf, was a rather conservative Harvard undergraduate when Humphrey was already an established liberal spokesman.
No Bridge Burning. Another possibility is McCarthy for Vice President. The disadvantage of this pairing, of course, is that both he and Humphrey are from Minnesota. The Constitution does not bar two men from one state running together, but it precludes the Electoral College votes of that state from being cast for both men. Thus, if a Humphrey-McCarthy ticket carried Minnesota, the ten electors would either have to split their votes between the two or not vote at all for one of the offices. For this reason, and because of the hard-dying desire for geographic balance—even in the era of nationwide TV and jet travel—no major party could lightly risk running a one-state ticket.