As the general election got underway, the largest hurdle for the campaign was finances. Polling numbers showed Humphrey trailing Nixon, causing donations to decrease. President Johnson refused to use the power of his office to help raise money, although many speculated that the tardiness of the convention, scheduled to coincide with Johnson's birthday, contributed to the issue. To stay afloat, several loans were made, which eventually accounted for half of the $11.6 million used by Humphrey throughout the general election. Campaign workers decided that no money would be spent on radio or television advertising until the final three weeks of the election. In September, President Johnson showed his support for Humphrey by giving what was described as the strongest endorsement of the campaign when he asked Texas Democrats to throw their support behind the Vice President. Meanwhile, Humphrey campaigned in New York where he labeled Nixon a "
Hawk", Both campaigns began to use their running mates to attack the other candidate. Republican vice presidential nominee
Spiro Agnew criticized the current Vice President for being "soft on
communism" But Agnew often made gaffes on the campaign trail, in contrast to Muskie who was viewed as a natural campaigner. In Missouri, in preparation for a meeting with former President Harry Truman, Muskie tried to defend his running mate from connections made by the Nixon campaign to the Johnson administration. He reversed the accusation by claiming that Nixon should be held accountable for the shortcomings of the
Eisenhower administration, under his logic. He then lambasted the Republican ticket for ignoring such issues as urban renewal, housing, and federal aid for education and sewage. Muskie was renowned for his speaking ability, and was known to turn around hostile crowds including one well publicized event when he asked an anti-war protester to join him on the stage. Although he provided a small boost for the campaign, Nixon remained fifteen points ahead, 44% to 29% in the September 27 Gallup poll. Diplomat
George W. Ball soon resigned his position in the Johnson administration to campaign for and advise Humphrey, hoping to prevent a Nixon victory. At the end of September, Humphrey's chances for the presidency further declined as media outlets observed that the Republican Party would be the likely winners in the election. Humphrey acknowledged his odds, proclaiming at an event in
Boston: "regardless of the outcome of this election, I want it to be said of Hubert Humphrey that at an important and tough moment of his life he stood up for what he believed and was not shouted down." Individuals close to the campaign noted that Humphrey looked tired and worn-out while flying from stop to stop, but would brighten up when he encountered a crowd. Humphrey delivered a televised speech in
Salt Lake City to a nationwide audience, and announced that if he was elected, he would put an end to the bombing of North Vietnam, and called for a ceasefire. He labeled the new policy "as an acceptable risk for peace". The plan was compared to Nixon's, which the candidate stated would not be revealed until
Inauguration Day. After the speech, anti-war protesters stopped shadowing Humphrey's appearances, and a few McCarthy supporters joined the campaign. Donations totaling $300,000 were immediately made to Humphrey, and he also improved in the polls, cutting Nixon's lead to single digits by mid-October. Meanwhile, Nixon tried to shift the emphasis of the campaign to the issue of
law and order, and declared that a vote for Humphrey, would amount to "a vote to continue a lackadaisical, do nothing attitude toward the crime crisis in America". While campaigning in
San Antonio, Humphrey went on the attack against Nixon. He accused the Republican nominee of playing politics with human rights, and claimed that he was "on the road to defeat". Hoping to gain favor among the
Hispanic community, Humphrey alleged that Nixon had never discussed the concerns of Hispanic-Americans during the course of the campaign. Nixon continued to tie Humphrey to Johnson. He argued that the administration was playing politics with the Vietnam War by trying to complete a treaty before the election to favor the Vice President. Humphrey fired back at Nixon's allegations, stating that the former vice president was using "the old Nixon tactic of unsubstantiated insinuation" Humphrey challenged Nixon to a series of presidential debates, but the Republican nominee declined, largely due to his uncomfortable experience at the 1960 presidential debates, and to deny recognition to the populist
American Independent Party candidate, Governor
George Wallace of Alabama, who would have been included at the event. Both the Humphrey and Nixon campaigns were concerned that Wallace would take a sizable number of states in the electoral college and force the House of Representatives to decide the election. Although Wallace had focused most of his campaign on the south, he was drawing large crowds during appearances in the north. Both campaigns delegated a large amount of resources to denounce Wallace as a "frustrated segregationist". As election day neared, Wallace fell in the polls, greatly diminishing the chance that he would influence the result. A few days before the election, Humphrey gained the endorsement of his former rival Eugene McCarthy. During a stop in
Pittsburgh, Humphrey stated that the endorsement made him a "happy man". The hopes of victory for Humphrey also began to look up as a bombing pause was achieved and that negotiations had progressed, cutting Nixon's 18 point lead to 2 points at the end of October. The
Soviet Union had tried to influence the North Vietnamese to soften on the negotiations to prevent a Nixon victory, Members of the campaign later claimed that Humphrey did not bring this up before the election, because he did not want to appear desperate while polls placed him even with Nixon. Humphrey held his final campaign rally at the
Houston Astrodome on November 3 alongside President Johnson. Governor Connally did not attend the event, causing suspicion that he would back Nixon, but he later assured Humphrey that he would not do so. During his speech at the rally, Humphrey asked Americans to base their vote on hope rather than fear. The next day, the eve of the election, he appeared in Los Angeles with Muskie, and was greeted by 100,000 supporters. Later that day, Humphrey and Nixon each held four-hour televised forums from Los Angeles on rival television networks. Humphrey's on ABC-TV at 8:30pm EST, Nixon's on NBC-TV at 9pm EST. Humphrey, with Muskie by his side, fielded questions from a live studio audience and a phone bank of celebrities including
Frank Sinatra and
Paul Newman. The Nixon telecast featured no interaction with anyone other than sports personally
Bud Wilkinson who read queries from index cards beside rows of volunteers taking calls. Muskie, commenting on the Republican broadcast from their studios noted that Spiro Agnew was nowhere to be found and how it appeared to be staged. Nixon tried to reverse Humphrey's boost from the bombing halt by stating that he had been advised that "tons of supplies" McCarthy called in during Humphrey's telethon and affirmed his support for the ticket. Edward Kennedy videotaped an endorsement for Humphrey from his home in Massachusetts. ==Results==