A Declaration & an Elbow

Before President Johnson stole the Minneapolis Governors' Conference show by moving it to Washington, New York's Nelson Rockefeller won most of the headlines by declaring himself out of the Republican presidential picture. Appearing on a TV panel program, Rocky was asked if he would be a candidate for the G.O.P. nomination in 1968. Said Rockefeller in a word:

"No." Did that mean that he was pledging himself "now and forevermore?" Replied Rockefeller: "That is correct."

The 1964 campaign, he explained, crystallized the party around two positions--the "extreme position, from my point of view, that Senator Goldwater took, and a moderate position." Said Rocky: "I think, in order to pull the party back together, to unite it, to make it possible to forget some of the scars of the past, that my withdrawing will be a real asset."

Of course, Rockefeller is planning to run for re-election as Governor next year. In a state where the voters have become a bit weary of a Governor who has spent much of his two terms running for President, the announcement was good politics. After all, if he wins big for Governor next year, Rocky can always change his mind about the presidency in 1968.

Yet even as he declared himself out, Rocky deftly elbowed a rival Republican presidential possibility: Richard Nixon. Rockefeller indicated that in 1968 he might even support a favorite-son presidential nomination for New York's Republican Senator Jacob Javits. If he is still Governor, Rockefeller can almost certainly arrange for the New York Republican convention delegation to vote for Javits. This would pretty much leave Nixon out in the cold in the state that he now calls home.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.