CAPITAL NOTES

Kennedy v. Rockefeller

President Kennedy guesses that his 1964 opponent will be New York's Governor Nelson Rockefeller, whom he regards as the "toughest" Republican to beat. The Kennedy forces have abandoned any hopes of heading off Rockefeller by beating him when he runs for re-election in New York next year, because New York Democratic politics are in an unholy mess. But Kennedy thinks he can beat Rockefeller in a presidential race.

Say Uncle

The British have made it clear to Washington that they will not campaign for U.N. admission for Red China, though Whitehall thinks that it is inevitable. White House policy on the question is not yet formulated, and along Embassy Row some State Department people have made it clear that they wash Britain would twist Washington's arm a little harder in favor of admission.

Silver Lining

Speaker Rayburn lost no time evening the score against Congressmen who had voted against him in the Rules Committee fight. Alabama Democrat Armistead Selden Jr., chairman of the House Subcommittee on Inter-American Affairs, was all briefed and packed to go to a recent regional meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union at Guadalajara. Mexico, but Rayburn turned thumbs down on the trip because Selden had voted with Judge Smith. Selden found a silver lining anyway: his anti-Rayburn stand on "Southern principles" gave him strong new popularity back home just when he needed it most.

Calculated Leaks?

The White House blames Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bill Fulbright for prematurely leaking the ambassadorial appointments lists to the New York Times. Fulbright was an early Kennedy choice for Secretary of State before he was shot down as a segregationist. One result of the leak was to stir up a newspaper ruckus over controversial appointments before approval had been received from the foreign ministries. Principal victim: the Kennedy family's close Palm Beach friend. ex-Cuban Ambassador Earl Smith, who was politely blackballed by the Swiss government (TIME, March 3).

Great Anticipator

The tongue-in-cheek White House appellative for Harvard Historian (The Politics of Upheaval) and Presidential Aide Arthur Schlesinger Jr. is "The Great Anticipator." Fresh from his tour of Latin American countries (see THE HEMISPHERE), Schlesinger lost no time living up to the promise.

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