Nation: A Challenge for the Prof

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In any other year but 1964, Republican Charles Percy, 46, would almost certainly have defeated lackluster Otto Kerner for Governor of Illinois. As it was, the Goldwater debacle cost Percy the race, but established him as one of the G.O.P.'s most vigorous and attractive campaigners. Rather than wait until the next gubernatorial election in 1968 to resume his political career, the Bell & Howell board chairman announced last week that he was a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat of Paul Douglas, his onetime (1938) economics professor at the University of Chicago.

Thanks to the well-oiled Democratic machine of Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley and his own lingering reputation as a liberal standard bearer, Douglas, 73, enters the race as the probable favorite. Nonetheless, in two years of assiduous politicking, Percy has managed to make himself almost as well known as Douglas. Moreover, the Cook County machine, which traditionally has counted on solid support from Chicago's Negroes, has antagonized civil rights groups by foot dragging on school integration, housing, welfare and poverty programs. Even last year Percy showed impressive strength in the Negro wards. "It will be an uphill battle all the way," he admits. But, adds Chuck Percy, "If we can wage an effective and good campaign on the right issues, if we can identify the causes of the future and respond to them, then we can win."