University of Virginia Library

Kennedy Supporters To
Rally Washington Votes

By John Milliken

Supporters of Senator Robert
F. Kennedy at the University will
sponsor a trip into the District
of Columbia this Saturday to canvass
voters for the primary to be
held in that city on Tuesday,
May 7. This marks a slight shift
in emphasis by the Kennedy organization
on the grounds. Up to
this point efforts have been directed
primarily at the Charlottesville
area.

A meeting of those interested in
going to Washington this Saturday
morning will be held in the
West Hall of the Law School
today at 4:30 p.m. Details of the
weekend project will be available
there.

The Kennedy campaign in Virginia
was officially kicked off by
state chairman Armistead Boothe
at a well-attended rally held in
Gilmer Hall on April 10.

University efforts have followed
the call by Boothe that, "Work
will begin at once in Virginia to
uncover substantial grass roots
support for Senator Kennedy."
This work has been undertaken in
three separate areas.

Considerable effort has gone
into organizing and co-ordinating
efforts to set up Kennedy organizations
on campuses throughout the
state.

Locally they have urged their
supporters to aid in the registration
drive in the City of Charlottesville
being sponsored by the
NAACP. This drive has been underway
since mid-April and is meeting
with considerable success.
Leaders in both the Kennedy and
the McCarthy camps stress the
importance of this non-partisan
drive.

As a campus organization, some
of the Kennedy effort has turned
inward to the University itself.
The Choice 68 poll sponsored
by Time magazine provided a
focal point for this effort.

With primaries in five states

and the District of Columbia within
the next month, the local Kennedy
organization is ready to turn
some of its organization and manpower
to efforts outside of the
state. Work in the District this
weekend will be the initial foray.

Senator Kennedy will be in
Washington campaigning on Sunday
and any who wish to remain
in the District and campaign with
him are urged to do so. Accommodations
will be provided in the homes
of residents of the District.

Leaders in the Kennedy camp
stress that the important thing is
to get people involved. Realizing
that there is only a limited amount
that students can do with exams
approaching, much of the local
effort will be directed toward insuring
that students are put in
touch with organizations in their
home areas for work during the
summer months. Hundreds of
names of volunteers have already
been turned into Kennedy Headquarters
in Washington and efforts
in this area will continue.

In Virginia as well as in other
states, these volunteers will aid
in the registration and canvassing
drives that are the backbone of
the Kennedy campaign.