In Newport, Oregon---during that state's primary in '67, I wore one of those Gene McCarthy buttons to a Robert Kennedy rally. I was confronted by a Kennedy worker who told me: "No way can McCarthy win. Only Kennedy can win. You are throwing away your vote!"
The next week, I voted for McCarthy because he had been there when we needed him --- a real and viable man to challenge Lyndon Johnson.
Eugene McCarthy WON the Oregon primary...
...and a week later, Robert Kennedy won in California -- where he was killed -- that same day.
The more things change, the more they get different.