Fifty years ago today California was holding its presidential primary. Robert Kennedy had suffered a stinging defeat in the Oregon primary just days before and winning this contest was a make-or-break proposition. In those days, elections held in primary states mirrored the electoral college in that they were winner-take-all contests in which the winner, regardless of the percentage of the vote won, would be awarded all the delegates from that state and, depending on the rules of each state, the delegates were pledged to the winning candidate for the first, second, or sometimes third vote. So winning California and then, later in June New York, Kennedy would be primed to make a serious challenge for the Democratic nomination.
I have it on good authority, as I was once married to a woman who worked in the campaign reporting to Frank Mankiewicz. She was responsible for scheduling the candidate and worked closely with the highest echelon of the campaign such as it was, for Kennedy was a difficult man to 'manage'. She told me several times that an understanding had been reached with Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago that if Kennedy were to win California he was ready to move his support from Humphrey to Kennedy giving the campaign not only all of the Illinois delegation but, most likely, the other 'bosses' of the party, those that controlled delegations in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and other states would have, most likely, followed suit. In any case being the senator from New York would mean that huge victories in California and New York (then the most populous state), and the immediate endorsement of the Daley and other party leaders would have given RFK tremendous momentum. Whether or not he would have won the nomination is uncertain for the delegate choosing process began in those days as much as two years before as county and then state delegations would elect delegates to the national convention at a time when all were happily looking forward to renominating Lyndon Johnson. As of this night, in fact, Kennedy was well behind Humphrey, who had not entered a single primary, and would--winning New York after his death--move him to within 150 delegates of Humphrey. Indeed so entrenched were his forces the Johnson had considered going to the convention in August and offering himself to a draft, much as Roosevelt had done (without going to Chicago) in 1940 to be nominated for his third term.
As the returns rolled in from Southern California, as the minority Black and Latino vote was recorded, Kennedy moved past McCarthy to claim the prize, additionally winning primaries in Arizona and the Dakotas with George McGovern, then Senator from South Dakota calling to report that on some Indian reservations Bobby had won 100% of the vote.
At around midnight Eastern Standard Time, Kennedy took the podium to declare victory and speak about healing the nation's divisions. Then with the words "and it's on to Chicago, and let's win there", he stepped off into the night.
We will never know. History has a way of eliminating all other alternatives. Rivers of Blood, Years of Darkness mark those times from these. We have wandered in the wilderness for now half-century, The voice and presence of the man haunt us still.
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