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Despite these efforts, Russell Long has quietly edged into the pre-January lead. He has the affable, let's-have-a-drink-and-talk-it-over personality beloved by other Senators, whereas Pastore, admittedly one of the Senate's most forceful debaters, has left many a senatorial skin scalded by his boiling oratory. The major handicap to Long's chance is his record as an anti-civil rights filibusterer, but it is an indication of the probable climate of the next Congress that this is no longer considered a drawback, since legislatively speaking, civil rights is no longer considered a problem. Thus, unless President Johnson really pulls Pastore up by the hand, Long is likely to be the new whip.