THE CAMPAIGN: George McGovern Finally Finds a Veep

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The choice of Shriver adds to the ticket a man with an unusual blend of contrasting qualities. Shriver is relatively well known, yet has none of the retread aura of having run for office before; politically, his is a fresh face. He has ties with wealth and big business through the Kennedys and his former executive role at Chicago's Merchandise Mart. His Peace Corps work may appeal to the young and his antipoverty work to blacks. The Peace Corps experience and the ambassadorship to France have given him some insight into world affairs. He is a livelier speaker than McGovern, and an innovative thinker: running OEO, he inaugurated Head Start, community medical centers and legal services to the poor. As Humphrey noted last week, "Sarge is just what George needs—somebody with enthusiasm, somebody with zip."

Salvage. The official selection of Shriver was to be made by the Democratic National Committee this week in Washington. A few days before it met, the committee's makeup was still not entirely certain. It was not wholly controlled by McGovern supporters, and there were disputes over just who would be eligible to vote. There was even some apprehension that credentials challenges would be renewed—and some Democrats worried that more embarrassing quarrels could erupt. However, as the national networks geared themselves to cover the meeting with much the same intensity they focused on a Miami Beach convention, it seemed likely that the party would put on a show of unity. Declared a nervous Frank Mankiewicz: "People who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it on prime time."

There is no doubt that the party has been seriously set back by its incredible two-week ordeal over the vice-presidential candidate. Conceded Gary Hart: "It's our darkest hour. Only time will tell how badly we've been hurt." One sign of the troubles came in a survey by Cambridge Opinion Studies, which showed that McGovern's candidacy—even apart from the Eagleton controversy—was so far leading to large-scale defections by Jewish voters in New York State, and that McGovern, at the moment, would lose to Nixon there by 51% to 43%. No successful Democratic candidate for President has failed to carry New York since Harry Truman in 1948.

All of the McGovern aides admit that their campaign has lost its post-convention momentum and that its fund-raising has been stalled; some 1.5 million letters will begin going into the mails this week. They contend that organizational work has been continuing, however, and that a voter-registration drive is proceeding on schedule. Argues Hart: "Once our ticket gets moving, a lot of this will be gone, if not forgotten." Indeed, the early travail could be submerged by other events and issues as the campaign moves on toward November. Yet the fumbling start had knocked much of the glow of a new political movement off the McGovern candidacy. The most difficult immediate task may be to regenerate enthusiasm among McGovern's followers.