Waiting for Rocky

Few politicians know the twists and bumps in the road to a presidential nomination better than Nelson Rockefeller.

In 1960 and 1964 he ventured onto it, found more ambushers than adherents, and dropped out before the Republican Convention began. This year the Governor of New York chose to promote Michigan's George Romney and wait upon events. If Rockefeller was to have any chance, it seemed until recently, the opportunity would come next summer. But gradually, as Romney's candidacy evaporates and Richard Nixon's solidifies, a Rockefeller caravan has formed up. Last week it was clearly visible, even though Rockefeller has yet to decide whether or when to join it.

He has no dearth of traveling companions. In Maryland, Governor Spiro Agnew announced that he would organize a draft-Rockefeller movement "in response to the ground swell of public opinion that I have seen developing." Sixty-six prominent Republicans in Oregon set up a similar group, vowing they would conduct a Rockefeller write-in campaign for the Oregon primary should he refuse to allow his name on the ballot. Said Governor Tom McCall: "If this effort can help bring Rockefeller into the Oregon primary, then its sponsors will have performed a public service of national magnitude."

Pragmatism & Sentiment. Agnew and McCall are liberals and longtime Rockefeller buffs; they were merely repeating their well-known views. But Congressman John Ashbrook of Ohio, a conservative who was one of Barry Goldwater's earliest supporters before the last election, talked out of pragmatism rather than sentiment. "Rocky is coming on real strong," Ashbrook has been telling his constituents. "The key is that Rocky is popular with most of the 26 Republican Governors while Nixon has little support among this group." William Miller, Goldwater's running mate, has also called Rockefeller the party's strongest choice, although Rockefeller refused to endorse the ticket in 1964. Ohio Representative Robert Taft Jr. says that "the most significant development in politics is Rocky's emergence."

Wisconsin's Melvin Laird also backed Goldwater in 1964, and is not committed to any candidate this year. As chairman of the House Republican Conference, Laird said, his principal concern was which presidential nominee could help elect the most Republican Congressmen. Laird thinks Rockefeller is that man; and the latest Louis Harris poll, matching Rockefeller, Nixon, Romney and Ronald Reagan against Lyndon Johnson, supports Laird's view. The survey found Rockefeller and Johnson tied. Nixon trailed by nine points, Romney by 13 and Reagan by 14. But, warned Laird, Rockefeller cannot afford to wait until the convention, because unless he stops Nixon in the primaries, Nixon will be unstoppable in Miami Beach next August.

Out of It. Rockefeller, for the record at least, was having none of it. "I have no desire to do it," he said on a radio interview, "and the fact is that I would like to stay out of it." Also for the record, Rockefeller continued to exhale unconvincing optimism that Romney could score an upset in New Hampshire and thus continue as the Rockefeller faction's champion. But with each passing week, Rockefeller's room to maneuver diminishes. If the New Yorker sticks with Romney through the New Hampshire campaign, as it now seems he must, it will be too late to file for the Wisconsin primary. The deadline for entering the Nebraska and Oregon contests falls before Wisconsin's votes are in. The election laws of Wisconsin, Nebraska and Oregon all allow the listing of candidates without their overt consent unless they file affidavits of noncandidacy. Last week Rockefeller's aides reminded reporters of the Governor's previous statement that he would indeed make such formal disclaimers.

If Rockefeller does decide to escape from his self-made cage, Oregon would seem his best bet. He won the primary there in 1964, and still retains many local supporters. Also, Oregon's May 28 vote is relatively late in the primary calendar, so that Rockefeller would have time to mount an attention-getting campaign. He has not, after all, had much national exposure since the primaries four years ago. A means of making the break was suggested last week by Senator Jacob Javits, who said he would not "feel inhibited" from switching to Rockefeller. "I do believe," Javits nudged none too subtly, "that Governor Romney is intelligent enough, fair enough and patriotic enough so that, when the signs are clear that he can't make it, he will do his utmost to bring about support for another."

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