Nov. 15, 1963 - The California Democratic party’s campaign for 1964 appears to be off to a good start almost a year before the election. With Vice President Johnson (pictured with members of a Happy Bluebirds troop upon his arrival at Los Angeles International Airport yesterday) as the rallying fulcrum, the state party netted $150,000 with last night’s $100-a-plate dinner. Mr. Johnson’s speech served notice that the campaign was on. The impression was bolstered by the presence of Gov. Edmund G. Brown and virtually all of the party leaders in the state among the 1,300 persons who attended. Nearly 1,600 tickets were sold for the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The revenue was swelled to the tune of $75,000 by advertising in an elaborate 72-page program. The cover bore the scripted initials, L.B.J., the Vice-Presidential seal, and a peephole showing a yellow rose of Texas. In his speech, Mr. Johnson restated the party’s progressive aims and called the Republicans “the party of retreat.” “They are working hard to restore the philosophy of their stalwart old leader, the late honorable William McKinley,” he declared. The Kennedy Administration, he said, offers “not a retreat, but an attack on the problems of our times.”
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