General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A question about RFK [View all]craigmatic
(4,510 posts)LBJ was done and had nothing to lose by denying him the nomination especially because he hated him anyway due to RFK trying to get LBJ dropped from the ticket in '60. Also, RFK was popular with certain segments of the country as a whole that weren't well represented in the party structure back in '68 namely minorities and young people. I doubt that RFK could've won over enough delegates at the convention to win just because HHH was so strong in the party with labor, power brokers like Daley, and people in the congress who viewed him as opportunistic for waiting to jump in the race after McCarthy almost upset LBJ in New Hampshire. Then there's also RFK's reputation as ruthless which alot of people hadn't forgotten. Alot of the southern dems didn't like him. Some political historians thought that his run in '68 was a set up for RFK to run in '72 which is what he was planning all along.