(10 of 10)
Severe Test. The organization is impressive and essential, but McGovern's ultimate strength may be that his jut-jawed, clean-cut prairie populism has a freshness and frankness that matches the mood of an electorate that is deeply discontented with business-as-usual politics (see box). "Cynicism, all over the country, is so widespread," notes a ranking Democratic Party worker. "It goes back eight years. I honestly think the system is being severely tested, and McGovern could be just the guy who could get elected because he talks to the basic issues. McGovern has an anti-Establishment image, and that has to help in the primaries or in the general election against Nixon."
Says a machine precinct worker in Philadelphia: "People really don't like Wallace, but they want to give the Establishment a kick in the pants." At the moment, Ted Kennedy—the favorite of Pennsylvania voters in the null kelovich survey, and the man most likely to break a deadlock between Humphrey and McGovern—remains the Democrat who could most effectively capitalize on that sentiment, much as his brother tried to do in 1968. But Kennedy could also put McGovern across in a deadlocked convention, and he leans strongly toward McGovern. Just when—or whether—he will endorse him remains uncertain, but he believes that Ethel's children, busily campaigning for McGovern, are making the family sentiments clear. McGovern remains less known nationally than his rivals; in a sense, his showing in the primaries so far is all the more impressive because of that. And if he becomes the Democratic nominee he will automatically be more widely recognized. He also has the sectional weakness shared by most left-of-center Democrats: he is wildly unpopular in the increasingly Republican South. Still, on present form, Americans are going to hear a good deal more from George McGovern between now and the Democratic National Convention—maybe even between the convention and Election Day.