858 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

him. I have said that on many occasions. I am very pleased that the
party has two fine candidates to choose from and maybe more than
two. I still don't know whether Mr. Reagan is a candidate or he
isn't, but apparently he is moving more in that direction.

Q. Could you support him just as easily?
A. I could support him very easily.

Q. Do you think he is still the front-running candidate for vice
president?

A. Well, it has been often said that nobody runs for vice president —
that it is simply a selection by the presidential nominee — and I guess
that's pretty accurate.

(Edward Kennedy)

Q. Governor, on the Democratic side. It's been mentioned in some
areas that Edward Kennedy would be a good choice for the Demo-
cratic vice presidential nomination. Do you feel that he would be
a good choice?

A. Well, I'll tell you this much. If I were one of the Democratic
leaders, it's something that I certainly would consider very carefully.
I have always felt that Ted Kennedy is a very, very fine person and a
very good politician — maybe the best politician of the whole Kennedy
family; and if I were a Democrat and I had that kind of material
around and it was available, I'd certainly look into it.

(Politics)

Q. Governor, is the danger in not moving to endorse a presidential
candidate that Maryland may get caught on the outside looking in
when one of the candidates apparently sewed up the nomination?

A. Of course that's always a danger. I don't know what that really
means though — caught on the outside looking in. I suppose you try
to look inside the eventual presidential nominee's mind and figure
that he's going to make a distinct line of demarcation between those
who supported him before he was a cinch and those who came along
after he was a cinch. Now when he gets that line drawn in his mind
is something that I guess not many people can predict. Also there
may very well be some people who have agreed privately to support
him long in advance of their announced intention, so there's not really
any way to tell whether a state can get caught in such a situation. A
man who is heading a large favorite son delegation — let's take a state
like Pennsylvania or Ohio or one of the big states, Texas — who waits