The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy book hits mark

Many readers here are familiar with my 40-year anniversary work documenting Robert F. Kennedy's May 1968 visit to San Bernardino. .

His visit here was an episode in history that left an indelible mark on locals who were there and was emblematic of his frenzied, incomperable and ultimately tragically abridged run for the White House.

But it gets just a scant few lines in Thurston Clarke's otherwise excellent new book: The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America.

I want to recommend this book in the strongest possible way to anyone ready to learn just what a Presidential campaign could be in a tumultuous time. It is particularly timely amidst the 2008 campaign, and shows just how short both current candidates are with regard to connecting with the electorate in a visceral, empathetic way.

From the book, the short passage mentioning RFK's jaunt through the Inland Empire, with a neat citing of then-Mayor Al Ballard:

After leaving the Hilton, Kennedy spent eight hours motorcading through middle-class and working-class towns in the San Gabriel Valley and in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. He opened a campaign headquarters and spoke in a high school auditorium and at street rallies. This was not supposed to be friendly territory. After the Watts riots, Californians had voted to repeal the state's antidiscrimination housing law, and a recent poll showed 61 percent believing that "Robert Kennedy spends most of his time courting miniority groups." But although San Bernardino Mayor Al Ballard had equipped city fire trucks with shotguns during the Watts riots and had become notorious for urging residents to arm themselves, he gave Kennedy a rousing introduction. Kennedy did not finish campaigning until midnight. He had again lost his shoes to a souvenir hunter ...