*Rubs hands in exultant glee*
That press conference was only held there because the journalists were too lazy to move their equipment to John Frankenheimer's Malibu home, where Bobby was staying on primary night.
First of all, the final delegate count before June 5th was 858 for Hubert, 713 for Bobby, and roughly 250 for Gene. The rest were uncommitted. All that is needed for him to survive is 1 inch extra clearance for the third round to hit the rear of the skull and not spray shrapnel into his brain. After that it was only a matter of time. Then it would be three weeks convalescence before resuming the campaign, during which he'd win a blowout in the NY primary.
Kennedy would never take the VP position for the same reason as Hillary. Humphrey or Kennedy would take a moderate Southerner like Carl Sanders, Don Russell or Terry Sanford.
Daley would likely eventually side with Kennedy, because he is the winner. Kennedy has the organization, the fundraising, and can hold a sizable portion of blue-collars, as he proved in Indiana. Many Kennedy blue-collar voters voted for George Wallace in November IOTL. It would be a toss-up between Nixon and Kennedy in November: both are the foremost operators in their parties, unlike the virginal Humphrey.
Kennedy's stance on the war was more flexible than it appeared: at different times he advocated Vietnamization, other times he advocated a negotiated settlement. In any case, Thieu hated his guts.
Re Kennedy's domestic program: Robert Kennedy's domestic programme was enacted by Bill Clinton a generation later. Clinton calls Kennedy his ideological mentor: "the first New Democrat", which is nothing but the truth. The proof is in this interview from May 1968. One of my pet peeves is the myth that he was a bleeding-heart liberal, which is 100% false.
Some important bits:
MOOD OF THE COUNTRY: I don't want to dismantle the Federal Government—it's sort of heresy on my part to talk of decentralizing control—but I do think that a
lot of the things now being done by Washington could be done at the local level and by private business. This would not only be more efficient; it would enrich the life of the individual, and that's what this country is for.
If the country recognizes the serious concerns of the middle class, we can get greater understanding for the concerns of the poor.
POVERTY: Welfare has proved ineffective and demeaning. The only answer is to create jobs. I'd do it through
tax incentives to the private sector, using the Government as employer of last resort. I think business can handle most of it if we make it economically attractive.
On healthcare: while often vague, Kennedy would probably acqueisce to a slightly modified version of Nixon's CHIP, which used employer mandates. He would close all loopholes on tax brackets above $50,000 ($300,000 today), which means that he'd increase his own tax burden.
Eventually I'll be doing a new version of my flagship TL
Flight of Fate, and all your concerns will be addressed in much detail.