Nation: NOW THE REPUBLIC

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The fact that Nixon spoke of himself as the hero of this American dream, even though his intent was plainly modest, seemed cloying to some. And the reference to a train whistle was an oddly old-fashioned note: trains do not symbolize escape and movement to today's young. Yet there could be little doubt that Nixon was sincere here, just as Lyndon Johnson is sincere when he talks about his years of poverty along the Pedernales. Certainly Nixon's audience in Miami knew what he was talking about, and responded.

Good Avocation. His ability to evoke the good old days and look eagerly to the year 2000, and to make the mix sound coherent, points up his talent for accommodation, which is one explanation for Nixon's return from political limbo. The G.O.P.'s liberals can live with him. He picked up much support from the Goldwater wing (and won the blessing of Barry), not because he belonged to the party's right wing, but because he was acceptable to it. Many of the stauncher conservatives preferred Reagan, but they realized that the California governor was not a viable national candidate. Tom Stagg Jr., national committeeman from Louisiana, acknowledged: "We've had our shot at a candidate who totally met our qualifications, and that candidate got six states. We've had our druthers. Now shall we win one?"

Another factor is Nixon's capacity simply to endure. As a child, he survived serious illnesses and a buggy accident that gashed his skull; two of his four brothers died in childhood. As a politician, he lived through youthful success and middle-aged failure by dint of total industry and a fatalistic belief that in politics conditions create a right time for a man despite his actions. A Navy veteran in 1946, he won a House seat at the age of 33. He was elected Senator at 37 and Vice President at 39. Ten years later, defeated for the Presidency and the governorship of California, he certified himself politically kaput. Most of the press agreed, including TIME. In 1966, sensing the vacuum in the party, Nixon campaigned tirelessly for G.O.P. candidates in 35 states and claimed a major share in that year's victory. Nixon is only 55, but he has been a national figure for nearly a generation. He has made survival an avocation.

In large measure, his current success flows from the ineptness or vulnerability of his opponents inside the party. George Romney, first in the ring, was the first to drop out. Ronald Reagan had possibilities, but was too new on the scene and too rigid in his views. Nelson Rockefeller, while a strong and attractive candidate in many ways, has never fully understood the differences between the politics of nomination and the politics of election. In three leap years, he approached the party as if it were a collection of voters on election eve instead of a coalition of interests about to hold a convention. It is a failing shared by the liberal Republican leadership, which apparently learned little from its rejection in 1964.