Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-11-11
- INTERPRETIVE REPORT -
Rockefeller Early Favorite
For "a @. Q. P. Nomination
BY DAVID S. BRODER
Star Stat Writer

By DAVID 5. BRODEk
Star Stat Writer
When Gov. Nelson A. Rookie
Teller of New York made his
Inflated bid for the Repub-
lican presidential nomination
in 1860, the slogan was, who
Else but Nelse?"
It's being revived now, but
under vastly different circum-
stances, as Republican politi-
clans wonder whether anyone
will challenge the Governors
expected 1864 candidacy.
He is the early favorite for
the nomination, not so much
because of his reelection Tues
day as despite it.
Gov. Rockefeller won a sec
ond term by $4,000 votes at a
time When a dozen other state
house incumbents were Being
defeated or barely squeaking
through.
But the manner of his VIC
tory did little to enhance his
reputation as a vote-getter. His
margin, against a weak Demo-
cratic challenger, was down
$4,000 from his 1858 margin
over an incumbent Governor.
He had the smallest plurality
of any Statewide winner in
eigher party. .
Divorce Seen as Factor
Moreover, he suffered his
worst setback in Erie County
Buffalo, losing it by over
$4,000 votes after carrying it
by $1,000 four years ago. This
is a heavily Catholic area, and
local Democrats had made an
issue of his divorce.
Still, when all this is con-
coded, G. o. P. politicoS still
rate him the man to beat.
Whether anyone will under
take the task is really a two
part question: Is the nomina-
ton worth a fight? If so, who
would go after It?
On the first, the private con-
sensuS of most Republicans is
that the assignment to run
against President Kennedy in
two years looks even less like
a blessing than it did before
Tuesday.
Realistically, they concede,
hopes of a G. o. P. victory in
1864 must be tempered by these
facts:
/. The Presidents popular
ity, in the wake of the Cuban
crisis, is as high as it has ever
been.
2. The Democratic Party
showed its muscle again in the
mid-term elections by gaining
seats in the Senate and holding
Republican advances in the
House and the governorshipS
we'll below expectations.
3. Barring a serious reversal
In national fortunes, the
American people have showed
a tendency through the years
to give President two terms.
Rockefeller Dissents
Gov. Rockefeller and those
close to him are the most no.
table dissenters from this pre-
vailingly pessimistic view of
1864 Republican prospects.
Assuming, however, that de-
velopments in the next two
years make the G. o. P. pros
pect more alluring, who would
challenge Gov. Rockefeller?
Senator Barry Goldwater?
Some believe his political stock
was strengthened by conserva-
tive Republicans victories
Tuesday in the South, the
Midwest and the Mountain
States. Election of additional {
G. o. P. Representatives in
Florida, North Carolina, Ten |
nessee, Kentucky and Texas, ;
plus the custer of liberal Dem !
ocrats by right-wing Republic
cans in Colorado, Wyoming
and Utah-all these buttress
his plea that the G. o. P. look
to the "hinterlands," not the {
big cities, for additional votes. I
Richard M. Nixon's defeat in (
California. even though &C
companied by the voters re-
lection of ultra conservative
r republican congressman,
leaves the Goldwaterites in a
stronger position to challenge
for control of that influential
convention delegation.
On the other hand, Senator s.,
Goldwater is chairman of the
Senate G. o. P. Campaign Com
mittee, and the Democrats
gained four Senate seats last ;
Tuesday.
GOldwater Race Dubious
Whatever the omens, most
Republican leaders are fairly
we'll persuaded the Senator
will not make a bid for the
1864 presidential nomination.
He has said so himself many
times, and he has the reputa-
ton of being an unusually
candid politician.
His Senate term expires in
1864. Most Of his friends expect
him to run for reelection in