Random '68 Musings, yet again...

I'm just going to lay out a few scenarios, with short-term consequences only. Long-term's been done four times already. ;) Tell me what you think. Perhaps for a more prosy, though unaltered, FoF.

EDIT: You don't have to be a Kennedy Specialist, because we like to hear outside views as well.

1A) 6/5: let's say RFK ducks, thereby giving us the one inch clearance required for the round to hit bone, not brain. That would require a few weeks in bed and a week in hospital post-op. Would the NY primary be a 60+ blowout, or something more competitive?

1B) Kills Ethel or surrounding staff instead. Though admittedly at 3 feet it's hard to miss with a virtually recoilless .22. Sympathy, emotional effects, NY primary?

2A) No Indianapolis speech, as virtually everyone tried to argue at the time. Besides SA "one small ripple..." staying as the ne plus ultra.

2B) During the debates between Nixon or RFK, who wins? I'd say tie on substance, Nixon on style, but feel free to argue otherwise.
 
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1A) 6/5: let's say RFK ducks, thereby giving us the one inch clearance required for the round to hit bone, not brain. That would require a few weeks in bed and a week in hospital post-op. Would the NY primary be a 60+ blowout, or something more competitive?

Would the public know for certain he was going to live? Because I can't see many people willing to vote for a candidate who could end up dead tomorrow.
 
Only after they interviewed the surgical team a few weeks later for Time and other publications. Once shrapnel hits the brain, the survival chances go from fairly decent to nearly nil, even tiny .22 rounds. That's why you see the blank expression in that Eppridge photo, he's in a coma, and would be for the next 26 hours until the flatline. IOTL, many CA Hispanics (who provided the CA margin of victory, 195 delegates, and Daley) said "I'd vote for him, but I don't want to be responsible if something happens." The public would be optimistic, but it wouldn't require a withdrawal. IOTL, Ted Kennedy was in hospital for months in '64 after the plane crash, and still won a blowout for his first full Senate term. Remember, primaries provided media momentum more than anything else. Only 400 of 2630 convention delegates were chosen there. The rest are under the thumbs of people like Mayor Daley (CINC), Jesse Unruh and NJ Gov. Hughes.
 
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