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Alphonse & Gaston. In Chicago, waiting at the airport for Stevenson, Estes reached for the sky (while photographers clicked madly away) to save himself from the cap pistol of a 3½-year-old Roy Rogers. When Stevenson and Kefauver started to board their chartered plane in Chicago, their aides looked for a routine that had already become familiar. At the foot of the ramp (or when getting into a car or starting through a doorway), Estes places his big hand between Stevenson's shoulder blades, pushes gently and says, "After you, Adduhlay." Adlai places his smaller hand on Kefauver's elbow, pushes softly and says, "After you, Estes." Stevenson, the more impatient of the two, always gives in and goes first. Comments a Stevenson assistant: "This is the greatest Alphonse and Gaston act since—well, Alphonse and Gaston."
Landing in Los Angeles, Stevenson and Kefauver faced a mob scene sufficient to warm any politician's heart. As they prepared to meet the crowd, someone remarked that it was a greater throng than the one that recently met Rock-'n'-Roll Star Elvis Presley. "Who," asked Stevenson, "is Elvis Presley?" As usual, Estes Kefauver was right on hand to help fill Stevenson's fund of commoner knowledge. Elvis the Pelvis, he said, was "a fine boy" from Tennessee.
"Ah Need Your He'p." As the campaign party moved through Los Angeles and San Francisco, Estes Kefauver seemed as placid and happy as ever—but inwardly he was beginning to boil. Campaigning with Adlai was all right, but the closely timed schedule sort of cramped Kefauver's style. He wanted to get out by himself and start beating the bushes, taking all the time he needed to shake every hand he could find. He means to do everything that energy and ambition can accomplish to win the election. The Vice President's chair is not quite what he set his sights on as a boy, but it will do—for a while. If the Democrats win, Kefauver will be closer to the presidency than ever before.
But even a Democratic loss does not mean the end for Estes Kefauver, especially if he can show his strength by carrying some farm states against the formidable Republican team. He will still be in the Senate, and, having run on the national ticket, may be known as a team player instead of a loner. He faces a 1960 campaign for reelection, and may therefore have to skip his quadrennial fight for the presidential nomination. But he is relatively young, and there are other years and other elections. The chances are good that Iowa farmers, New Hampshire lumberjacks and California avocado growers will some day be confronted again by the tall man with the outstretched right hand and the quiet drawl: "Ah'm Estes Kefauver. Ah'm running for President and Ah need your he'p."
* He carries not only her maiden name but the less-known maiden name of her mother, Judith Carey.
* Correct pronunciation: Estis Key-fawver