"After You, Estes"

Campaigning in Florida, Adlai Stevenson delivered the sharpest personal attack he has yet made on Estes Kefauver. Said Stevenson in a speech last week at Jacksonville: "There may be such a thing as wanting to be President too badly. And that may be one of the reasons why none of Kefauver's colleagues in the Senate and so few of the party leaders around the country have endorsed him." Then, citing his chapter and verse, Adlai accused Kefauver of missing vital congressional votes, planting the impression that Estes neglected legislation for electioneering.

In response, the astonished Kefauver revealed an aspect of his personality rarely seen by the U.S. public. Angrily, the molasses-voiced Tennesseean called a press conference, accused Adlai of "mudslinging and character assassination ... I am surprised and disappointed." But even in anger, Estes was careful to display Sunday school magnanimity. "I'm not going to engage in personalities," said he. "I will simply turn the other cheek."

Sheerest Flattery. Stevenson's blast certainly demonstrated one thing: Estes is on his mind. Most of last week Stevenson was busy paying Kefauver the sincerest form of flattery. Rolling into Jacksonville on a one-day drive to win friends and influence Florida's May 29 primary, Stevenson stopped off on Main Street, where he popped in and out of half a dozen stores, shaking hands and telling all comers, "I'm Adlai Stevenson, and I need your support." In Kefauver's underdog tone, Adlai solemnly assured newsmen that he faced "an uphill battle" in Florida. (When a reporter remarked that Kefauver had made the same claim a day earlier, Stevenson countered, "I guess then it's 'After you, Adlai,' 'After you, Estes.' ")

Back in his own Illinois, where he said he thought that Kefauver would probably get a "substantial" write-in vote in this week's Illinois primary, Stevenson gave the clearest indication of all of the Kefauver influence. Contrary to his original plans, announced Adlai, he was going to make an electioneering trip to Oregon some time before the May 18 primary. Since the Minnesota primary both Kefauver and Stevenson supporters have organized write-in campaigns in Oregon (where neither candidate is officially entered). The once-aloof Stevenson clearly felt he was now obliged to meet Kefauver on any grounds where Kefauver chose to fight.

Shooting Singles. Meanwhile, Estes rolled across the country as polities' closest approximation to perpetual motion. In three days early in the week he barnstormed the east coast of Florida from Jacksonville to Coral Gables. Everywhere he went he repeated the tried-and-true Kefauver vote-getting tactics which, said one Floridian, reminded him of "a quail hunter shooting singles." In Jacksonville, with a few minutes to spare, he carried on a vigorous sidewalk campaign in the neighborhood of his hotel, then went into a barbershop to announce, "I'm Estes Kefauver. I'm running for President. I want your vote." Replied the barber: "I know who you are. You're the man everybody is against for President except the people."

Between handshakings he delivered nearly a dozen speeches, including one that contained a forthright statement on school desegregation. Said he: "If I am elected, it will be my duty to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and the Supreme Court decision is the law of the land ... You know and I know it's ridiculous to say that a Supreme Court decision is unconstitutional."

The Physical Viewpoint. From Miami, Kefauver headed west to Omaha to fulfill a precampaign promise to deliver a non-political speech to the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs. As befitted a man with high hope of capturing Nebraska's twelve Democratic Convention votes, he improved the shining hour by showing up for a luncheon meeting of the local Democratic Central Committee. Afterward he boarded a plane for New Jersey, where five more grueling days of campaigning awaited him.

At week's end Estes Kefauver had every cause to be pleased with his progress. Though he insisted (and local dopesters agreed) that he was still running second to Stevenson in Florida, he had clearly made inroads in Adlai's strength there. And while New Jersey still looked safe for Governor Robert Meyner's slate in the April 17 primary, it was noteworthy that Meyner huddled with Estes for 40 minutes behind closed doors and was careful to show him every mark of public amity, including a joint press conference. Said Kefauver's Campaign Manager F. (for Florence) Joseph Donohue: "We've been lonesome in the Kefauver camp for a long time. Before New Hampshire, hardly anybody would speak to us. After New Hampshire we got a polite 'How do you do.' After Minnesota, they really acted as if they were happy to talk to us. Since the Wisconsin vote some people are so polite it's embarrassing."

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