 At the beginning of November , President Johnson announced that a bombing had been halted in Vietnam ; observers noted that the development significantly helped Humphrey although Nixon had endorsed such talks . At this time , Nixon operative Anna <unk> secretly spoke with the South Vietnamese , explaining that they could receive a better deal under Nixon . The charge that , along with remarks from Nixon supporter and future Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird , Johnson had deliberately <unk> Nixon during <unk> angered the President . He spoke with Nixon supporters Senate <unk> Leader Everett <unk> and Senator George <unk> of Florida , informing Nixon of the President 's frustration . On the Sunday preceding the election , Nixon appeared on Meet the Press , explaining that he would cooperate completely with Johnson , <unk> the President shortly thereafter to personally <unk> him . The final Harris poll before the election indicated that Nixon was trailing Humphrey 43 % to 40 % , but Gallup 's final poll showed Nixon leading 42 % to 40 % . On the eve of the election , Nixon and Humphrey bought time on rival television networks , Nixon appearing on NBC , Humphrey on ABC , where each made his final appeal to voters . Nixon used this appearance to counter Humphrey 's ' October surprise ' , a polling surge following the bombing halt , claiming that he had just received " a very disturbing report " , which detailed that tons of supplies were being moved into South Vietnam by the North . Humphrey labeled this charge as " irresponsible " , causing Nixon to counter that Humphrey " doesn 't know what 's going on . " Overall , Nixon spent $ 6 @,@ 270 @,@ 000 on television advertising , most of which was judged to have only reinforced supporters . 
