Dismay for L.B.J.

Even if he can command a loyal and unified Democratic Party in California, there is some question that Lyndon Johnson will be able to carry the nation's most populous state next year. As it is, fractious California Democrats are so energetically redrawing and quartering the party that there is considerable doubt that they will even send a delegation to the 1968 Democratic Convention pledged to Johnson's renomination.

Party loyalists are divided by the bitter personal and political animosities between Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty and former Governor Pat Brown. Yorty, an old foe of Bobby Kennedy, is organizing a conservative-oriented delegation to be headed by himself. Brown tells his friends that he will never serve under Yorty, and hence may have to form his own more liberal slate, as he did successfully in the 1964 presidential primary.

Ultraliberal Rump. If next year's fight were merely a replay of 1964, the outcome would matter little to the President, since either contingent would be all the way with L.B.J. But this time there are two other divisive factions.

There is every expectation that a slate of far-right delegates pledged to George Wallace will be entered in the primary. Getting on the ballot is relatively easy since only 13,000 signatures are required. At the other extreme, an ultra-liberal rump, the California Democratic Council, has announced that if the war is not over by September, it will then hold its own convention to choose a delegation pledged to a candidate who opposes Administration policy in Viet Nam. If the Democratic vote does split four ways in next June's primary, the

Wallace ticket could siphon off many Yorty votes and even come out ahead. Wallace pulled between 29.8% and 42.8% in three 1964 presidential primaries largely because of racial backlash; in a Referendum the same year, California voters went against open housing, 2 to 1. A Wallace plurality would not endanger Johnson's renomination, of course, but it would be a serious blow to his prestige in a year that promises to be tough enough for the Democrats nationally.

One way to narrow the split in California would be for the Yorty and Brown factions to unite behine a compromise delegation chairman. The most obvious choice would be Attorney General Thomas Lynch, 64, who has stayed clear of intraparty brouhaha but to date has shown no stomach for the role of Solomon. The state's influential assembly speaker, Jesse ("Big Daddy") Unruh, seems inclined to duck this disruptive round in order to husband his good will for a possible go at the governorship in 1970.

Consensus in Chaos. So deeply riven are the Democrats that they are even having trouble organizing a party fund-raising dinner scheduled for June 23 in Los Angeles, with Johnson topping the bill and his campaign fund the principal beneficiary. The White House, apparently seeking consensus even in chaos, dispersed responsibility for selling the $1,000-a-couple tickets among 30 cochairmen, honorary chairmen and committeemen of all factions, many of whom are not on speaking terms.

Though a goal of $500,000 has been set for the get-together, a California party official admits: "We'll be lucky to get $200,000." Whatever the turnout, the Peace Action Council of Southern California, which claims some 60 member organizations, promises that the dinner will at least set one new record. When Johnson makes his first political appearance in the Golden State since 1964, says the group, he will be greeted by "the largest antiwar demonstration in history."

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