Oct. 19, 1964 - Robert F. Kennedy said today that Senator Kenneth Keating (R-N.Y.) was conducting a campaign based on a “most cynical exploitation of the ethnic groups.”
The Democratic Senatorial candidate, in a speech at Syracuse University, accused Keating of falsely charging that he had “made a deal with Nazis,” that he had “sold out the Negro,” and that he was “anti-Italian.”
“The charges have two things in common,” Kennedy said. “First, they are clearly intended to prejudice voters with claims that are transparently false. And second, they are issued by press release rather than before an audience of the people concerned — because my opponent knows they would be rejected by anyone who knows my record.”
“For example,” Kennedy said, “the Senator attacked me in a press release and said I sold out the Negro — and then went before the NAACP and praised me.
“He attacked me in a press release, saying I had discredited Americans of Italian descent — and then went before a Sons of Italy group and never mentioned my name.”
Kennedy also accused Keating of ducking a public debate.
“After first accepting my proposal that we debate according to the same format as the Kennedy-Nixon debates of 1960, he now proposes debates that would put us in separate rooms at separate times — and would not permit questioning by newsmen,” Kennedy said.
“On top of this, he proposes that the debates be delayed until the closing days of the campaign. I believe the time is now.”
Kennedy gave the impression he had lost hope of meeting Keating face to face in television debates. “I think it’s obvious he doesn’t want to debate,” he said.
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