Show News Mews Report j President Johnson the nearest nearest near near- est thing to a Southerner In the White House In the past years Is not writing off Dixie In the November election QUITE to the contrary current current cur cur- rent evidence suggests he will battle just as hard In his own behalf in at least areas below the Mason-Dixon Mason Line as ashe ashe ashe he did for the Democratic ticket tick I et at four years ago There is even the possibility that the stop whistle operation operation opera opera- tion he staged so s successfully in 1960 a a maneuver generally general general- ly credited with holding the South and winning the election for the late President Kennedy Kennedy Kenne dy may be employed again to at least a United degree REGARDLESS of the tactic used however those sources suggest that at the very least the President plans a major eff effort rt In In North and South Carolina Car olina Georgia Louisiana and and other other oth oth- Tennessee possibly er fr Dixie states to the extent I that time will permit Both pride and Wand practical politics polItics polItics pol pol- are involved from the Presidents President's standpoint SIMPLE electoral arithmetic suggests the extreme risk which con concession of f the normally normal normal- ly Democratic Solid South would pose for the party ticket Sources close to the Chief Executive Executive Ex Ex- Ex say he has been stung sharply by the recent polls indicating in in- resurgent support for Senator Barry Goldwater in areas which a few months ago reflected d a significant pro pro- Johnson trend AND WORD WORn from those quarters quarters is that the Chief Executive V is ready to fight back with whatever weapon best suits the particular battle area Speculation here is that the first evidence of counter-attack counter came when the President announced announced announced an an- his intention of picking pick ing a vice presidential candidate candidate candidate candi candi- date acceptable to all aU parts of the country then then ruled out Attorney General Robert Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy Ken Ken- nedy a man Dixie had said it would not take UNLESS the signs are al al' wrong other evidence that the President wants the South Inthe in inthe inthe the Democratic camp will not be long in coming |