Eye to Eye

When his commander ordered his decimated squadron to withdraw from the Battle of Copenhagen, Admiral Nelson clapped a telescope to his blind eye, exclaiming: "I really do not see the signal!" He ended, of course, by winning the battle. His namesake, New York's Governor Nelson Rockefeller, can also affect a blind eye when he chooses, and so far it has served him well.

Six months ago, for example, after he had pushed through New York's first state sales tax, every opinion poll had Rockefeller on the rocks. Party leaders even threatened mutiny if he should be so overbearing as to seek reelection in 1966. Today, blind as ever to the signals, Rocky gives every indication of being well on his way toward a third four-year term.

His success comes partly from default. A strong Democrat, perhaps, could topple him in November. Yet a strong candidate appears the least likely choice of the bitterly divided Democratic Party. Though there are many aspirants for the nomination, nearly all have serious political liabilities:

> Frank O'Connor, 56, New York's city council president, seemed the odds-on favorite after an impressive victory in the city election last November, but has since lost ground by petty partisan bickering with Republican Mayor John Lindsay, and, in any event, carries little weight outside New York City.

> Eugene Nickerson, 47, chief executive of Long Island's populous Nassau County, promises--with phrases and gestures borrowed from John Kennedy --to make New York "first" again, but to date has made little impact beyond his own bailiwick.

-- Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., 51, now chairman of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, longs for the job his father once had, but has not yet convinced party leaders that he is remotely equal to that opportunity.

Of several Democratic dark horses, the brightest is Representative Samuel Stratton, 49, an aggressive campaigner who has repeatedly beaten the G.O.P. in a traditionally Republican district, and would likely give Rockefeller the toughest race. But since Stratton lost a bitter fight for the Democratic senatorial nomination in 1964 to Robert Ken nedy, whose subsequent election made him the party's top panjandrum in the state, Stratton's hopes of organization endorsement are slim. According to some readings, in fact, Kennedy would rather see Rockefeller win again in 1966 than have a strong Democratic Governor to challenge his control of New York's delegations to the 1968 and 1972 Democratic conventions.

The Governor, meanwhile, is cruising around the state as if the election were tomorrow, and looks hardier day by day. Though unloved for imposing the highest state taxes in the nation, he can point to an impressive record. During the eight years of Rockefeller rule, New York has made bold, pioneering advances in housing, education and conservation. Putting the telescope to his other eye, Nelson Rockefeller will undoubtedly descry the Great Society within the Empire State.

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