c. Edmund Muskie
From Nixon's perspective, the more liberal an opponent, the better, since a left-leaning Democratic nominee would enable him to claim the center and sharpen his message about cultural values. Nixon's campaign organization, the Committee to Re-elect the President (officially abbreviated as CRP, but derided by critics with the acronym CREEP), sought to undermine the candidacies of more centrist Democratic hopefuls, especially the presumed frontrunner, Maine senator Edmund Muskie. In the New Hampshire primary, Nixon operatives phoned voters at uncivilized hours, pretending to be Muskie campaign volunteers from Harlem. CRP also forged a letter to a New Hampshire newspaper reporting that a Muskie staffer had used the term Canuck to disparage Americans of French-Canadian descent. When Muskie's margin of victory in New Hampshire fell far short of expectations, many Democrats began looking elsewhere for a candidate. Liberal South Dakota senator George McGovern was well positioned to benefit from Muskie's problems, more democratic nomination rules, and the Twenty-sixth Amendment. With Wallace drawing conservative votes away from centrist candidates earlier in the campaign, McGovern was able to secure the nomination.