National Affairs: High v. Low

Oklahoma's Bob Kerr was roaring around Nebraska campaigning for votes in the April 1 presidential primary. It was a high-pressure campaign. A man who will run if Truman doesn't, Kerr had the support of Old Pol Jim Quigley, perennial Democratic national committeeman, and plenty of money. He had billboards, posters, radio and television shows and 300,000 copies of a campaign newspaper.

Last week Mr. Low Pressure himself arrived. Estes Kefauver, the man Kerr was out to beat, flew into Omaha with a bad cold, called the press, radio and television men around him. He was in this alone, explained Kefauver. He had little money, no machine. "I'm not an orator or a great speaker," he said. "I just want to meet people, and discuss . . . issues with them." Then, with snowstorms crippling his schedule, he headed across the state, shook a hand wherever he found one stuck out of a sleeve. He stopped at a cattle sales barn outside North Platte, made a short speech from the auctioneer's stand. At Lexington, when he had to wait until 3 a.m. for a train, he stretched out on a hard bench, pulled his hat over his eyes, and took a nap. Beside him he carefully laid Lexington's gift, a huge wooden key to the city.

After three days in the state, some Nebraskans were comparing him to Lincoln, and Kefauver was ready with a prediction: "I think we can win." Reporters who followed both candidates through low-pressure, anti-Truman Nebraska were inclined to agree.