OREGON: A Liberal Friendship

If there was one thing clear about next May's presidential primary in Oregon, it was that all the Democratic possibles would get a chance to show what they could do—since Oregon will put any name on the ballot on petition of a mere 1,000 voters. If there was another thing clear about the primary, it was that Oregon's U.S. Senator Wayne Morse, a latter-day Democrat, was not likely to let any Democrat pick up an advantage in his backyard. Last week, sure enough, Wayne Morse agreed—"reluctantly," he said—to let his name be entered in the Oregon primary as a favorite son, thus roiled the waters, and seemed likely to come out the winner.

Backers of Adlai Stevenson were not too grieved, because Stevenson has begged to be left out of the Oregon primary—although some saw Morse's entry as a way to cut the influence of Stevenson's ardent backer and Morse's archenemy, Fellow Senator Richard Neuberger. Backers of Massachusetts' Jack Kennedy were hurt some, but Teamster-backed Wayne Morse already has done nearly as much damage to Kennedy's chances as possible by attacking him up and down the state for his part in framing the Landrum-Griffin labor law. Most grieved were the friends of Morse's fellow liberal Democrat, Minnesota's Hubert Humphrey, who probably will lose most of his votes to Morse. The Humphreyites could hope that Favorite Son Morse will take Oregon's 17 delegates to the Los Angeles convention and some time after the first ballot, turn them over to Humphrey. But then, with one time Republican, onetime Independent, longtime Lone Wolf Wayne Morse, who could tell?