IN the final days of the campaign, Hubert Humphrey's entourage shared a wistful dream: if only Election Day were a week later. Richard Nixon's aides, on the other hand, were wishing that the voting had taken place a week or two earlier. The calendar remained immutable, of course, but the yearning to stretch it in one direction or another reflected a new tension that enlivened the presidential race in its homestretch.
For the first time since August, hints of anxiety were evident among Republican strategists. Earlier, they had confidently figured on a minimum of 360 electoral votes. Through the last week, however, their private count went down to around 300, raising the fear that reversals in two or three middling-to-large states could drop Nixon below the figure of 270 needed to win. Nixon him self, still confident of capturing the popular vote, nonetheless showed his apprehension over a possible electoral deadlock by repeatedly insisting that the presidency should go to the candidate who scored a plurality; he called upon Humphrey to support the popular winner. Humphrey, who was also busy counting, disagreed. He insisted that in the event that no one wins an electoral vote majority (see box, opposite), the House of Representatives should pick the best-qualified nominee. While both men have said that they would not bargain with George Wallace for his electors, the Alabamian could always essay the kingmaker's role by prodding electors in the states he may have carried to cast their ballots for one of the major candidates before the problem ever reaches the House.
Not Quite Guilty. More vividly than ever, the vision of an upset victory tantalized the Humphrey camp. The Democrats felt that each day they were continuing to pick up momentum. Though the days were running out too soon, they found the portents increasingly favorable. Even the London bookmaking odds against Humphrey shortened. The odds at Ladbrokes, which were 12 to 1 against Humphrey a month ago and 6 to 1 two weeks ago, last week were 7 to 4—reflecting Humphrey's increasing strength.
More important, the New York Daily News poll, one of the most comprehensive of its kind on the state level, showed Humphrey ahead in New York State for the first time. Two previous straw polls by the paper had indicated that Nixon had a good chance to get the Empire State's 43 electoral votes. The Gallup poll for mid-October indicated that voters' confidence in the Democratic Party had risen markedly since late August, just as Humphrey's personal standing had gone up.
Finally, Eugene McCarthy came out for Humphrey, thus raising hopes in the Humphrey camp that many of the Democratic dissidents led by the maverick Senator might return to the fold. McCarthy spoke in the tones of a judge finding a culprit guilty, but not quite guilty enough to be hanged. Humphrey still fell "far short" on key issues, he said, but deserved support on the ground that he was better than Nixon. As a measure of his own disgruntlement, McCarthy added that he would not be a Democratic candidate for re-election to the Senate in 1970 or for the Dem ocratic presidential nomination in 1972, thus suggesting that he might help form a new party.