A Streetcar Named Euphoria

Q. Mr. President, can you tell us anything about your plans for next week? A. With regard to the convention, I expect to go up later Thursday evening-- I don't know what time--if I go at all.

Q. Mr. President, did I understand that you might not go to Atlantic City at all?

A. I didn't say I would or I wouldn't.

--White House press conference Well, if he didn't, it would certainly be the biggest surprise since the St. Louis Browns won a pennant. For Lyndon Johnson this week will mark the zenith of a vigorous and ambitious career. He will be nominated as the Democratic candidate for President of the U.S. The next night, on his 56th birthday, he will deliver his acceptance speech. He wouldn't miss it for the world.

Polls & More Polls. All week long Lyndon delighted in playing cat-and-mouse with the vice-presidential nomination, but most of all he was riding along on a streetcar named euphoria. Trooping in and out of his presence have come literally scores of visitors, mostly newsmen and politicians. There were evening meetings with 50 or so Washington bureau chiefs of the major newspapers, magazines and wire services, visiting publishers, Governors, mayors and maybe even dogcatchers. Most of them reported the same thing: Lyndon lounging in a quiet study or in the Oval Room, drinking huge tumblers of a low-calorie orange drink, offering his guests heaping dishes of hors d'oeuvres--"ooves," as he calls them--and savoring marvelous visions of victory.

Those visions are all nourished out of a brown folder and a stack of papers that are always at Lyndon's elbow. The contents: polls, polls and more polls.

There is George Gallup's report that Lyndon Johnson is running ahead of Barry Goldwater 65% to 29% nationwide, with 6% undecided. Elmo Roper estimates that Lyndon is running ahead 56% to 26%, with the rest undecided. Oliver Quayle, a former associate of Lou Harris, shows Lyndon running ahead of Barry by 70% to 12% in Maine. A New York poll gives him 69% of the votes, a California sampling 64%, and the John P. Harris poll, run by a Kansas outfit, has him leading Barry 52 to 28 in that state. There are soft spots throughout the South and the Rocky Mountains, but beyond that, the polls leave little more than Nebraska, South Dakota and Ohio in doubt. And while most show Lyndon losing one out of every ten Democratic voters because of the civil rights "backlash," they also show him picking up three out of every ten Republicans because of what he loves to call the anti-Goldwater "frontlash."

Props & Struts. The extraordinary propaganda gambit with the press worked very well to Lyndon's purposes and satisfaction. A similar effort to promote a favorable view of his Administration by various economic experts, however, backfired (see U.S. BUSINESS). Nevertheless, Lyndon came out of that with his familiar aplomb; he had more than enough props and struts to bolster a glowing confidence. The Democratic platform is a paean to his "Great Society." Peppery Rhode Island Senator John Pastore's keynote is an effusive tribute to Lyndon's "nine miracle months," and Pastore's closing words, "We need you, President Johnson," are almost certain to make strong men weep (or, as the case may be, blanch). Even Lyndon's medical reports give him cause for cheer. White House Physician Rear Admiral George Burkley, who examines President Johnson daily, says he is in "excellent" shape and is keeping his weight, always a problem, between 205 and 209 lbs.

Even Congress came in for a hearty pat on the back from the President. Just last week, the lawmakers obliged Lyndon by declining to pass legislation that would have enabled the TV networks to broadcast a Johnson-Goldwater debate (see SHOW BUSINESS). To pay the 88th a "richly deserved" tribute for its work since January (tax bill, civil rights bill, anti-poverty bill, etc.), Lyndon tossed an elaborate "Salute to Congress" on the south lawn. Oft-trampled and browning patches of grass were sprayed green for the occasion, and a three-quarter moon glowed bright as 45 singers and dancers put on a light musical revue created by LIFE Magazine staffers. It was as pleasant a way as any to raise the curtain on the Atlantic City convention, a slam-bang show that surely would be billed as "A Salute to Lyndon Baines Johnson."

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