Hypothesis Unbound

Inside the bargain-rate, $200-a-month Lansing office, filing cabinets bulged with letters from well-wishers, and a few recently acquired tomes on Viet Nam occupied an unpainted bookcase. Situated in a tumble-down neighborhood four blocks from the Michigan state capitol, Governor George Romney's new head quarters — formally dubbed the "research center" — clearly had nothing to do with state business. The working hypothesis, of course, was that the Republican presidential nomination was within Rom ney's reach. However logical that as- sumption might seem, it was being undermined with empirical assiduity almost half a continent away in New Orleans.

Gathering in the French Quarter for a two-day meeting of the Republican National Committee, G.O.P. leaders found themselves in the thick of a determined stop-George movement. Though the city's pre-Mardi Gras atmosphere was giddily festive, the conclave itself was marked by sober misgivings about the Michigan Governor's ability to speak out clearly on major domestic and international issues. As some of Romney's support began to erode, Richard Nixon, the G.O.P.'s perennial workhorse, began to shape up as its potential dark horse as well. Clearing the Track. The former Vice President had supposedly disavowed politics for six months following the G.O.P.'s election victories last November. Nonetheless, his backers came out in the open to promote the notion that Nixon, a dedicated party performer of proven ability, was preferable to the unknown quantity that Romney continues to be. On the eve of the G.O.P. meeting, Nebraska's Fred Seaton, Interior Secretary under President Eisenhower, sent letters to all committeemen and state chairmen eulogizing Nixon as "the single Republican with the stature, the requisite abilities and the qualities of leadership essential to unite us and maintain our current momentum." More discreetly, Nixon fanciers were hard at work clearing the track for their steed. To make sure that Front Runner Romney does not lock up the nomination in advance of next year's G.O.P. convention, they quietly encouraged favorite-son candidacies, at the same time talked up such moderate alternatives to Romney as Illinois' Charles Percy and New York's Nelson Rockefeller.

The Nixon boomlet has especially strong support among Southerners, as well as among Midwestern and Rocky Mountain conservatives, many of whom remain bitter over Romney's refusal to support Barry Goldwater. At the same time, party professionals of every hue are mindful of Nixon's yeoman efforts on the stump both in 1964 and 1966. Separate polls last week by the Associated Press and CBS each showed G.O.P. national committee men—or at least those who responded—preferring Nixon over Romney by 3-to-2 margins. The results, however, may be deceptive. "If you're really undecided and don't want to commit yourself this early," says Rhode Island's G.O.P. Committeeman Bayard Ewing, "what could be safer than being for Nixon?"