He limited his speech to ten minutes, and then moved quickly from the meeting room. Once in the hall he began to run with his arms flat by his sides. (The impression was of a speeded-up film of a man walking in huge strides.) He ran to the elevator and, on the ground floor, sprinted in this peculiar fashion to his car. He arrived at the funeral on time.

Despite his age and the enormous obstacles standing in the way of his re-election, Keating rarely seems physically or psychologically tired. Nor does he seem to be merely going through the motions of campaigning; he is in the battle to win--not just to place.

The prospects that he will win seem dim now. He was behind from the very beginning, and even the most optimistic observers feel that he held the lead but briefly.

There are some hard political realities helping Kennedy and hurting Keating:

* the huge vote President Johnson is expected to poll in the state.

* the candidacy of Henry Paolucci on the Conservative ticket. Keating's refusal to support Goldwater has assured Paloucci of two or three percent of the vote, and with things as close as they are, defections are costly.

* sympathy for the late President, reflected in support of his brother.

* money: the Kennedy campaign is far better financed than Keating's. One Keating aide estimates offhand that Kennedy is spending twice as much as his opponent for television. When the votes are counted, what the candidates do personally may have little meaning in comparison to how often and how well they can project themselves over the airwaves; and Keating--both quantitatively and qualitatively--seems unable to match Kennedy in this competition.

Keating is not without his own as sets. His close association with his popular Republican colleague, Jacub Javits, puts him in good stead with a large part of the electorate, including many normally Democratic Jewish voters. And just as Kennedy is capitalizing on Johnson's popularity ("Get on the Johnson, Humphrey, Kennedy Team" is plastered all over New York's buses), so Keating capitalizes on that of Javits (posters of Keating and Javits together, with Javits saying "Keep my Teammate," are located in many New York subway stations.")

Many Democrats, distrusting Kennedy and approving Keating's record, have swung over to the Republican side. And Keating goes out of his way to keep them there.

On balance, however, things do not look good for Ken Keating. What happens to' him if he loses? Many possibilities have been mentioned, commissioner of baseball being the most frequently heard. One aide, who said that the Senator and President Johnson get along very well, even suggested that an ambassadorship might be forthcoming.

The effects of this campaign--both on Keating as a person and on his image--may serve to limit his future role in active politics. If he loses, he does not seem the sort of man who will become an active voice for moderate Republicanism: at heart, he is not a crusader. Yet it appears equally unlikely that Ken Keating will slip silently into oblivion. Somewhere, somehow, he will remain in public service.

As one campaign lieutenant put it, "The Senator couldn't live outside public life. He's not only dedicated to it--he's addicted to it."