Sept. 18, 1964 - Queens District Attorney Frank O’Connor warned Robert F. Kennedy early today that without a major campaign effort he would lose the county to his Republican opponent, Kenneth Keating.
But after a day of Kennedy campaigning and Kennedy crowds, capped by a rally of 5,000 persons in Flushing, O’Connor revised his prediction.
“We knew he could draw big crowds,” the District Attorney said. “The question in our minds was, ‘Can the crowds be translated into votes?’ After seeing these crowds, I’m convinced it means votes. I’ve never seen such enthusiasm.”
O’Connor said he thought the Democratic candidate had the edge but was unlikely to carry Queens by as large a margin as President Johnson would.
Kennedy was heartened in his first campaign trip into the pivotal county by the large number of adults in the crowds that greeted him, although at Alexander’s department store, Junction Boulevard and Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, his first stop, the crowd of more than 2,000 was largely made up of screaming juveniles.
But there were many older people among the 700 that hailed him at Gerald MacDonald Park in Forest Hills. At the request of Borough President Mario Cariello, he touched on local issues — the need for a borough medical college and a crackdown on jet airplane noise.
At the rally in Flushing, a community plagued by the roar of low-flying jets from nearby La Guardia Airport, Kennedy drew cheers by saying: “I think we can do something about noise in the area.”
In the business district of Flushing, women rushed out from a hairdresser, their hair still in rollers, to shake his hand.
Queens is regarded as one of the most pivotal counties in the state. In the last 30 years, every candidate for Governor to whom it gave a winning margin has been elected.
In 1960, President Kennedy won Queens by about 70,000 votes, a fact that was noted by Robert Kennedy in his speeches today.
Democratic leaders have been worried about the white backlash in Queens, reporting islands of sentiment for Barry Goldwater, the Republican Presidential candidate, especially in Ridgewood, Glendale, and parts of Flushing. Queens was the focal point of last week’s predominantly white boycott against the New York Board of Education’s school integration program.
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