Rocky Learns to Whistle Dixie

"This is not exactly Rockefeller country," Alabama Governor George Wallace wryly observed on the eve of the Vice President's trip to the South. But last week, in a mere two days of back pounding, arm squeezing and conservative oratory, Nelson Rockefeller managed further to blur his past image as a big-spending liberal and convince many amazed Southerners that he is really one of their own. In his two stops at Mobile, Ala., and Columbia, S.C., he did not eliminate the conservative opposition to his remaining on the ticket in 1976, but he went far toward moderating it.

For all their supposed dislike of Rockefeller, Alabamans turned out in droves to get a glimpse of the enemy--or of his conversion. There were even six Southern belles with hoop skirts and parasols to welcome the invader. Originally, Rocky was scheduled to address 200 people in the Mobile sports arena. But there were so many requests for invitations that the auditorium was filled to capacity (1,800). Rocky shared the podium with Wallace and treated him like an old friend. "I am honored to be in your presence," he told Wallace, and continued: "George and I didn't always agree on issues, but we always respected each other. We were the two [Governors] who always stood up for what we believed in." Replied Wallace: "I understand some of the political hierarchy of your party doesn't get along with you. Well, I can tell you that much of the hierarchy of my party doesn't get along with me. So we have a lot in common."

Runaway Spending. Rocky won Dixie hearts by talking like a dedicated conservative. "We have been through 15 years of overpromising and underdelivering by government," he said. Runaway spending threatens to devour half of the gross national product by the turn of the century, thus making it "impossible for the U.S. to survive as a free society." He cited the case of a bank president's affluent son who managed to get a handout of food stamps, and he declared it was time to cut back on welfare spending. "We've got to balance the budget at all levels of government."

His audience rushed to shake his hand and get his autograph. Rocky, in fact, was engulfed by more well-wishers than even Wallace. Noting how much Rocky and Wallace had in common, Maryland Lieutenant Governor Blair Lee declared, "The political situation is getting spooky around here." Asked if Wallace had written the speech for Rocky, an aide to the Alabama Governor replied, "We lost a speech the other day. Now I know who found it."

Rocky was also a hit the next day in Columbia. Flanked by two pillars of Southern conservatism, South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond and Governor James Edwards, Rocky stood on the steps of an antebellum mansion and declared his "very deep belief in states' rights." The welfare system would have to be revised, he said, to "avoid the cheats--to see that those who don't belong on the rolls don't benefit. We've run out of money. We've got to live within our means."

Once again, Rocky was facetiously accused of plagiarism. Said Edwards: "The things he's saying sound like they might come from my speeches or Senator Thurmond's." But Edwards, like other Southern skeptics, promised to continue to monitor Rocky's speeches to make sure his conversion is genuine. Even South Carolina Representative Floyd Spence, who voted against Rocky's confirmation as Vice President, mellowed a bit. "I'm not sure the philosophy attributed to Rockefeller was always accurate."

Lax Administration. Returning north later in the week to the state he governed for 16 years, Rockefeller was less cordially received by a commission investigating the widespread scandal involving the swindling and mistreatment of patients in nursing homes. At the end of nearly five hours of questioning, Rocky managed to escape any personal culpability in the scandal, but he stood accused of lax administration of medical-care programs when he was Governor.

The following day, he appeared before a grand jury near Attica, N.Y., to explain his actions during the 1971 prison revolt that ended in the deaths of 39 prisoners and hostages. Greeted by a group of protesters who blamed him for the bloodshed, Rocky spent two hours and 45 minutes testifying.

But these bad moments scarcely dimmed the afterglow of Rockefeller's Southern excursion, at least among conservatives. Rocky's success can only encourage Ford, whose stock has also been rising in the South. Pressure was building on Ronald Reagan to declare his candidacy before too many conservatives had deserted him.

Reagan, engaged in patching his adobe house on his California ranch, remained ambiguous about his candidacy. He inched forward slightly by noting that "there is a strong feeling in the party that a candidacy by me would not be divisive and that a choice would be good for the party and the nation." While he delays, he is hoping that the President will continue to slip in the polls. Ford and Rocky are both conducting a delicate political operation: they are trying to head off the threat from the right without alienating the moderates and independents they need to win the election. The danger is that if they tilt too much to the right, they may not be able to recover their balance.

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