Republicans: Nixon's No Vote

Ever since November, political pundits have been plotting the most promising course for Dick Nixon's return to Washington. According to the seers, the straightest road to the White House began at the California Statehouse in Sacramento. Let Nixon beat Democratic Incumbent Pat Brown for Governor of California in 1962,* said Republican bigwigs, and he will be in the best position to maintain control of the party and work toward the presidency. But last week one party leader spoke out in blunt disagreement. In Sacramento for a meeting with California's Republican State Central Committee, Richard Nixon told G.O.P. legislative leaders: "I am not a candidate for Governor. I have no intention to be a candidate, and I have no intention of instituting a draft for Governor." The Sacramento statement was no sign that Nixon intends to abdicate his political position in the Republican Party. This week he will join the Los Angeles law firm of Adams-Duque & Hazeltine. Serving "of counsel'' to the firm, he will be free to pick and choose among clients and cases and to allocate as much time as he desires to political business.