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Polls Open: PR Faces Crucial Vote; Lindsay Favored

New York

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Nov. 1--New York's longest, most expensive mayoral campaign drew to a close last night, as pollsters failed to agree on a probable winner.

Only the Democratic candidate, city Comptroller Abraham D. Beame, would claim outright victory, Mr. Beame, in a curbside interview told a CRIMSON reporter, "the crowds have been very good; I'm very pleased." He claims that he will win by a 200,000 vote margin.

Beame is probably more worried than his outward optimism would suggest. He has been slipping consistently in all the polls, and lately appeared to be losing large numbers of votes to Conservative Party candidate William F. Buckley Jr.

"The Beame Team" has even purchased dozens of radio spots to attack Buckley, whom it ignored until late last week.

John V. Lindsay, the Republican Liberal candidate, was more cautious; he would only predict a close outcome. But sources high in the Lindsay camp were considerably more optimistic. In an interview with the CRIMSON, a top Lindsay side unhesitatingly predicted victory.

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The campaign, the Lindsay camp has taken a sudden turn toward desperation. Realizing that he was falling behind. Beame agreed to debate alone after a previous refusal and has made angry personal attacks on his opponent.

Meanwhile, professional bettors are for the first time making Lindsay their favorite, and campaign contributions are pouring in more rapidly than ever.

in a straw poll of 1763 undergraduates taken yesterday by the Harvard Young Republicans, Lindsay received 77 per cent of the vote, Beame received 9 per cent, and Buckley received 14 per cent. Seventy-seven per cent of the students who listed themselves as Democrats voted for Lindsay. In a hypothetical election pitting President Johnson against Lindsay, 47 per cent voted for Johnson and 27 per cent for Lindsay.]

Buckley's unorthodox campaign seems to be winniing him votes--as many as 18 per cent of the electorate, according to one poll. But much of Buckley's following is fairly uncertain and may vote instead for one of the candidates who has a chance of winning.

The biggest question of the campaign, one which no one can answer, is which candidate would get a majority of these Buckley votes.

Buckley spent the last day of the campaign in his office, while Lindsay. Beame and their running-mates stumped the Bronx and Brooklyn. Both candidates attracted primarily small streatcorner crowds which, in Lindsay's case, were dominated by screaming substeens Beame was supposed to appear with Senator Robert F. Kennedy '48 (D-N.Y.), but the Senator never appeared with him, for undisclosed reasons.

Lindsay, obviously tired after his six-month campaign, continued to rely heavily on his opposition to machine politics and the Democratic Party bosses.

The key to the outcome of the election will be the results from Brooklyn. If Lindsay cannot stay close to the total Beame's allies pile up in New York's largest borough, then he will not be able to capture sufficient votes in other boroughs from the normally Democratic minority groups that are heavily represented in Brooklyn

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