Dick's Lucky Palm

"There are people," said Richard Nixon in Chicago last week, "who think I am a candidate." There certainly were in Washington where his friends opened headquarters for the Nixon for President Committee at 1726 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., a block west of the White House.

Headed by Gaylord Parkinson, until recently California Republican chairman, the Nixon staff moved into a freshly whitewashed four-story building decked out with plush royal blue carpeting, flattering photographs of Nixon smiling with assorted statesmen, and Dick's new insignia, a white N-shaped bolt of lightning on a blue and red background. For his working staff, Parky, 48, has assembled a bright-looking thirtyish headquarters crew that seems to make up in zeal what it lacks so far in experience.

For visual impact and verve, the Nixon group seems far ahead of the Romney for President Committee, which almost surreptitiously set up shop a few blocks to the north in March. The Romney group, which includes many middle-aged pros and is led by Old Gladiator Leonard Hall, 66, conveys a relatively stodgy impression. The linoleum-floored suite is virtually hidden away on the Shoreham Building's eighth floor, next to the offices of Sidney Zlotnick, attorney at law. Nixon headquarters, by contrast, abuts the salon of Madame Dana, a popular palmist, who prognosticated: "His convictions come across a lot better than they used to. A lot of other people are going to think so, too."

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