Return of the Pro

John Kennedy called him "the best election man in the business," and many leaders in both parties still think of Lawrence Francis O'Brien that way. The reputation is well-deserved. J.F.K.'s two Senate races and the Democratic presidential campaigns of 1960 and 1964 benefited from the O'Brien tactical touch. Coming late into Hubert Humphrey's dispirited and disorganized entourage in 1968, the Irish Mafia man from Massachusetts injected enough order into the effort to permit a strong Democratic surge in the final weeks.

His 69-page handbook on how to assemble electoral majorities is required reading for American politicians. The manual covers everything from bumper stickers ("Make the Message Simple") to sound trucks ("Never Pass Through a Residential Neighborhood After 7:30 p.m."). But O'Brien is much more than an "election man." As a White House aide and then Postmaster General, he successfully promoted the passage of New Frontier and Great Society legislation. Through his undisputed skill and engaging Irish manner, O'Brien still draws affection, respect and trust from all corners of the party. Even his adversaries have found him honest and fair.

Most important for the Democrats' present needs, he is a conciliator and an old-fashioned loyalist more concerned with the party as a whole than with any faction or personality within it.

Silent Gene. Thus the Balkanized, impoverished party finds O'Brien the ideal candidate to replace Fred Harris, who resigned last month as Democratic national chairman. Many party leaders argue that O'Brien, 52, is the only choice, insisting that only he can bridge the assortment of geographical and ideological chasms in the party.

Humphrey is enthusiastically for him. Senators Ted Kennedy, Ed Muskie, George McGovern and Harold Hughes are agreeable. The party's left, including Congressman Allard K. Lowenstein, finds O'Brien at least tolerable. Of the party's big names, only Lyndon Johnson and Senator Eugene McCarthy remain silent on the subject, but many of

McCarthy's biggest backers are in O'Brien's corner.

At week's end, after listening carefully to declarations of support from across the Democratic spectrum, O'Brien was on the brink of agreeing to return to the chairmanship provided that no significant opposition arises. If he says yes, it is virtually certain that he will be elected chairman when the Democratic National Committee meets in Washington March 5. O'Brien will have to leave a political-consulting firm he recently founded, following a brief stint as the president of a New York brokerage house, and slow the work on a book on his years with Kennedy and Johnson. With his party $8,000,000 in debt, viciously at war with itself and seriously intimidated by the strength of Richard Nixon, it will be the old pro's greatest challenge.

The House of Representatives is one particularly troubled compartment of the Democratic Party; many House

Democrats chafe bitterly under the stagnant leadership of Speaker John W. Mc-Cormack, 78. In a party caucus last week, Representative Jerome R. Waldie of California offered a resolution of no confidence in McCormack's stewardship. Waldie's thrust was laid aside by a vote of 192 to 23, but the appearance of overwhelming support for McCormack was misleading. Fully aware that Waldie had no chance of success, many reform-minded members held their fire, but hoped to fight with more success another day.

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