Unforeseen Eugene

Friday, Mar. 22, 1968

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He was laughed off as a windmill tilter, shrugged off as a lackluster campaigner, written off as a condescending cynic. But last week, when the votes in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation presidential primary were counted, Minnesota's Democratic Senator Eu gene J. McCarthy came off—to practically everyone's surprise—a hero. THE UNFORESEEN EUGENE, proclaimed a placard toted by one of his fans after the balloting, and that said it all.

McCarthy's entry into the primaries against an incumbent President was unforeseen. His appeal on the stump, despite a low-key approach, was unforeseen. Most unforeseen of all—by the pollsters, by newsmen and by a shaken

Lyndon Johnson—tfas his showing on election day. When McCarthy first ventured into New Hampshire, Democratic Governor John W. King, a Johnson loyalist, predicted that the President would "murder" him. Opinion samplers gave him 10% to 20%. Instead, he polled a stunning 42.2% of the Democratic vote to Johnson's 49.4%. With an addition al 5,511 Republican write-ins (McCarthy, astonishingly, ran third on the G.O.P. ticket), he trailed the President in the overall tally by a scant 230 votes, 29,021 to 28,791.

Galvanic Effect. Despite the fact that L.B.J. was a write-in candidate while his challenger's name was printed on the ballot, the narrowness of the President's lead amounted in all but figures to a victory for McCarthy. "I think I can get the nomination," the Senator said later. "I'm ahead now. There's no point in being anything but optimistic." His showing had a galvanic effect, particularly on the legions of enthusiastic students who poured into New Hampshire to help him (see box opposite). Outside his once moribund New York offices appeared a crude sign: WELL

DONE, CONQUERING HEROES! MCCARTHY v. NIXON IN NOVEMBER. In the Sen ate, Oregon Republican Mark Hatfield, who shares McCarthy's doubts about the war in Viet Nam, and several colleagues wore McCarthy buttons—but on the inside of their lapels.

And then Bobby Kennedy entered the picture. Would the appearance of so formidable a foe force McCarthy out of the running? "Look, what do I have to do to convince you that I have no intention of withdrawing?" he snapped at the question. "I have said at least 20 times: I don't have in mind becoming a dropout."

Man For All Seasons. The quiz afforded ample evidence that there is a broad and hitherto little-appreciated streak of steel in the man, just as his showing in New Hampshire called to mind the usually overlooked fact that in 20 years of electoral politics he has not yet lost a race. All of his previous contests, however, have been waged in his native Minnesota.