National Affairs: Lamb Stew?

If the grand Irish fairy godmother of Massachusetts politics were to grant two wishes to the Republicans, they would wish: 1) that there were no such thing as a Democratic Senator named John Fitzgerald Kennedy, or, failing this; 2) that the Republicans could find such a man—brave, well-known, experienced, heavily coifed, well-born—who could beat the stuffing out of Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

But the fairy godmother has not heard the call yet. In Worcester's Memorial Auditorium last week, 3,000 Republicans met in convention to talk about their candidates for the November elections. As if Kennedy himself was not enough to worry about, there were G.O.P. mutterings of a tougher campaign ahead as a result of the Sherman Adams-Bernard Goldfine difficulties. Before this gloomy curtain, the Massachusetts Republicans riffled through a stack of possibilities and made their selections.

On the question of who would run for Senator against John Kennedy, there was a fast shuffle as onetime State Republican Chairman Charlie Gibbons, 57, rose to declare that he had changed his mind about wanting to be a U.S. Senator, instead would run for Governor, whether the convention endorsed him or not. Casting around for another fresh senatorial candidate (the term most used was "sacrificial lamb"), the Republicans roped in a Boston attorney named Vincent J. Celeste, 34, who ran once for city council, once for state representative, once for Congress (against Jack Kennedy in 1950) —and lost all three times.

In the gubernatorial race against Democratic Incumbent Foster Furculo, 46, who will be another hard man to beat, the G.O.P. skipped over Christian Herter Jr. —son of the U.S. Under Secretary of State and onetime Massachusetts Governor—who was willing to tackle the job (TIME, Jan. 20), instead picked a longtime officeholder, State Attorney General George Fingold, 49. of Concord. Mass. Herter's consolation prize: candidacy for Attorney General Fingold's job. Republican consensus: 1) primary troubles in the gubernatorial runoff between Fingold and Charlie Gibbons. 2) lamb stew for Vincent J. Celeste in the senatorial elections. Reason: Massachusetts' fairy godmother is no Republican.