Democrats also included "the right to be different" in their 1972 platform. According to the party, this right included the right to "maintain a cultural or ethnic heritage or lifestyle, without being forced into a compelled homogeneity". The balloting Gallery of candidates Delegate vote for presidential nomination Running mate Most polls showed McGovern running well behind incumbent President Richard Nixon, except when McGovern was paired with Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. McGovern and his campaign brain trust lobbied Kennedy heavily to accept the bid to be McGovern's running mate, but he continually refused their advances, and instead suggested U.S. Representative (and House Ways and Means Committee chairman) Wilbur Mills of Arkansas and Boston Mayor Kevin White. Offers were then made to Hubert Humphrey, Connecticut Senator Abraham Ribicoff, and Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale, all of whom turned it down. McGovern and his campaign staff felt that a Kennedy-style figure was best to balance the ticket: a Catholic, big city-based leader with strong ties to organized labor and urban political machines. After McGovern informed Kennedy that he was seriously considering Kevin White (who had informed McGovern he was available), the Massachusetts delegation threatened to walk out of the convention if McGovern chose White, an Edmund Muskie supporter who had fought sharply with the McGovern slate during the primary. Immediately, White was dropped from consideration. Finally, the vice presidential slot was offered to Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri, who was relatively unknown to many of the delegates. The delegates insisted on nominating eight candidates for vice president, including Eagleton, Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska, former Massachusetts Governor Endicott Peabody, and Frances "Sissy" Farenthold of the Texas state house: Farenthold was the first serious female candidate for the Democratic vice president nomination since Lena Springs in 1924. By the time the roll call finally began, many of the delegates were angry and wary after the protracted infighting, and combined with the last-day-of-school atmosphere of the proceedings, caused the vice-presidential balloting to become nothing short of a farce. The delegates cast ballots for a record 79 people, including many not involved in politics, as well as three deceased persons, Chinese leader Mao Zedong, and the fictional Archie Bunker. As the vote went on, Farenthold began to attract an unexpected level of support, eventually leading to something of a grassroots campaign to nominate her over Eagleton. However, this ultimately proved too late and too disorganized to have