Nation: ARDOR AND DISENCHANTMENT

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WHEN Hubert Humphrey took to his bed in Washington with a 101° fever, Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty was unsympathetic enough to suggest that the Vice President had contracted a diplomatic malady. The reason for his sudden indisposition, suggested Yorty, was the threat—which indeed materialized—of massive anti-war demonstrations in Los Angeles, where he had been scheduled to address a Democratic Party rally.

Humphrey's grippe was genuine, but so was the quandary that the mayor was hinting at. Like Richard Nixon, Humphrey is almost certain to win his party's nomination next month; yet rank-and-file reaction to his candidacy, never notably enthusiastic, has been increasingly indifferent of late, if not outright hostile. For weeks, despite his self-imposed obligation to defend the Johnson Administration and its policies, the Vice President has sought assiduously to outline the prospect of an independent, innovative Humphrey regime. To date, however, the exuberant Minnesotan has had to take consolation from delegate arithmetic rather than the roar of the crowd.

Over the Wreckage. Last week's Gallup poll was no tonic for Humphrey. It showed fellow Minnesotan Eugene McCarthy holding thin leads over both Richard Nixon and Nelson Rockefeller. Against Nixon, reported the poll, Humphrey would also win, but he would merely tie with Rocky. Since last month, all of the candidates have been holding comparatively steady in the polls, except for Alabama's George Wallace, who has now inched as high as 21% in the standoff between Rockefeller and Humphrey.

Nor was the Vice President's eupepsia restored by Senator Edward Kennedy's hardening decision to stay out of this year's presidential race. Kennedy's lure as a running mate on the Humphrey ticket would attract several millions of the votes that might otherwise go to the Republican candidate, or not be cast, or even gravitate to a fourth party. Partly because of the Administration's war policies, partly also because at 36 he does not feel ready for the post, the last Kennedy brother will almost surely stay out of the race. His decision did not discourage Ohio's former Governor Mike DiSalle, however. Without having consulted the Kennedys, Di Salle announced that he plans to nominate Ted for President at the Democratic Convention.

Obligatory Cliché. Humphrey's plight for the moment seemed to be that of the lame duck's ugly duckling—although the President himself was not acting noticeably lame in such matters as Supreme Court appointments and foreign affairs.* Humphrey is hobbled by his identification with the Johnson regime and unable as yet to reassert the highly individual and creative style that marked his congressional career; he worries not so much about the August convention as about November, when a Republican candidate might foreseeably walk into the White House over the wreckage of the Democratic Party. Humphrey's dilemma lies not so much in any lack of credentials for the presidency as in the changed and changing context of American policies.

In the critical area of foreign policy where he has been most vulnerable to criticism from Democratic dissidents, Humphrey last week did start staking out his own independent positions. He was not so much challenging the Administration as acceding to a new view.