New York: The Carpetbagger

Another chapter in the engrossing political drama of Robert Francis Kennedy—a drama that asks the question:

Can a little fellow from a big family that comes from an Irish town in New England find happiness as a U.S. Senator from New York? As of last week, Bobby Kennedy decided that yes, he could. But there were as yet a few stumbling blocks.

Supporting the Pitch. The biggest block was New York’s Democratic Mayor Wagner, who was being pressured by Kennedy forces to endorse Bobby’s candidacy. As it happens, Wagner would just as soon see Bobby search elsewhere for his happiness. First of all, Wagner had struggled mightily in recent years to wrest a working control of the New York State Democratic machinery from oldtime bosses like the Bronx’s Charles Buckley, Buffalo’s Peter Crotty, Brooklyn’s Stanley Steingut and Harlem’s Adam Clayton Powell. And these men were now the very ones who were supporting Bobby Kennedy’s pitch. To welcome Kennedy into New York would mean collaborating with that bunch, and Wagner had no desire to do that.

Another factor militating against a Wagner endorsement was pressure from New York’s highly vocal reform Democrats, some of whom consider Kennedy not only an interloping carpetbagger, but, what’s worse, much too conservative for their liking; he’s all right on civil rights, but then there is the question of civil liberties. The liberals would prefer to have U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson, who is not interested.

Bobby was also getting the cold shoulder from major New York State newspapers. A survey of comment in twelve of them showed nine opposed to his candidacy, two in favor and one neutral. The New York Times, a staunch backer of Jack Kennedy in 1960, scoffed that Bobby “apparently needs New York. But does New York really need Bobby Kennedy?”

Off on a Cruise. While Kennedy himself stayed away from last-minute politicking by scooting off to Maine for a cruise, he was leaving nothing to chance. Kennedy workers, led by Brother-in-Law Stephen Smith, have lined up a sizable number of delegates to the state Democratic convention, to be held in Manhattan on Sept. 1, and Smith & Co. have already managed to persuade some of Wagner’s friends to go along with Bobby. As a result, Bob Wagner may have no choice other than to unbag the carpet for Kennedy this week.

If, as is likely, Bobby should get the nomination, he will probably run against Republican Kenneth Keating, who has yet to announce officially that he will run for a second term. Keating still has to decide whether he can in good conscience support Barry Goldwater, with whose views he differs strongly. He has an additional problem in that the Conservative Party wants to run former Congresswoman and ex-Ambassador Clare Boothe Luce for the Senate. Mrs. Luce is seriously considering the idea. If she rejects it, most Republicans figure that Keating might be able to take enough Republican and Democratic votes together in November to beat the carpetbagger.