Democratic, Republican Parties Stage Last Rallies of Campaign

Republicans marched in a wet "torchlight parade" into their final "touchdown rally" last night. Democrats gathered for a jubilant "pre-election victory rally" at the same time several miles away.

"This great touch-down rally shows our mobilized strength," Governor John A. Volpe told a cheering crowd at the Park Street Armory last night. Republican organizers had been unable to completely fill the auditorium.

Volpe shared the platform at the Republican wind-up rally with ex-governor Christian A. Herter, ex-United Nations Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, and the Republican nominees for state-wide office.

Republican senatorial nominee George Cabot Lodge '50 and Edward Brooke, nominee for Attorney General and the first Negro to run for state office in Massachusetts, shared the crowd's loudest applause. "Political commentators have cast me as the underdog in the U.S. Senate race because my opponent is the President's brother," Lodge complained. "But," he added to tumultuous applause, "they have underestimated the people of Massachusetts."

Brooke urged that all Republicans vote the straight Republican ticket. He made frequent reference to "the Lord" in his short speech, promising that "the rain will stop election day--I spoke upstairs this afternoon."

Between the speeches six cheerleaders in blue sweaters from Quincy filed onto the platform to lead cheers for the candidates. They asked the audience to "twist for Brooke," which the audience did.

A battery of spotlights swept the sky at Symphony Hall last night as the Democrats held their final pre-election rally. Loudspeakers cajoled the crowd: "Step right up folks. The show's about to start, and there aren't many good seats left!"

Inside, a six-man combo warmed up the audience in the nearly full hall. Seventeen Harvard-style chairs lined the front of the stage, backed by about 80 more seats for the lesser wigs of the party.

The entertainment proceeded for an hour before the inevitable brass band marched down the aisle followed by the big names of the party--John W. McCormack, Edward M. Kennedy, Endicott Peabody, and Edward J. McCormack Jr.

The "head of the ticket," Endicott Peabody, stood before the gathering and recited, "All the king's horses and all the king's men won't put John Volpe in office again."

And finally, the candidate with the most sex appeal, Teddy Kennedy, approached the rostrum, launched into a vigorous attack on the Republican party, and demonstrated his mastery of rhetoric: "With this spirit we shall not fall; with this spirit we cannot fail." Then everybody left, for now they'd seen everything.