Republicans: Anchors Aweigh

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All the same, Nixon may have struck out too many times: his defeat in 1960 and in the 1962 California gubernatorial race have embossed him with a "can't win" image that he may never fully erase. He has mellowed considerably, is less the coiled spring of past campaigns. But enough voters may remember him as the 1960 Nixon ("Would you buy a used car from this man?") to neutralize the personality issue. With a less abrasive candidate, the G.O.P. could point out to voters that Lyndon Johnson might also have trouble selling used cars.

Centrist Choice. Even so, many Republicans can see Nixon gathering strength in the primaries, collecting additional votes in the South and South west and arriving at Miami Beach with more than the required 667 votes. Or they can imagine Rockefeller and Reagan deadlocking the convention and finally accepting Nixon as a compromise "centrist" choice. Should all three of them be eliminated, as well as Romney, Percy would be waiting.

Percy—"Chuckie Goodboy" to his detractors and too much the Boy Scout even to some friends—is almost everybody's choice for the second spot, closely followed by Reagan. His principal non-admirer is Nelson Rockefeller, not only for ideological reasons (the two are too close in their philosophies), but for personal ones as well. When Rocky visited the Rockford fair in Illinois in 1964, Percy, then in the midst of his losing gubernatorial bid, refused to appear with him. The reason for the snub, presumably, was that Percy was afraid of being identified with a man whose recent divorce and remarriage had punctured his appeal to the distaff voter.

Percy's credentials are impressive: a self-made millionaire businessman, a liberal who nonetheless would not have what one Republican calls "that hate bloc" against him, mildly dovish on Viet Nam (but with enough hedges to landscape a steeplechase course), and demonstrably concerned with the sickness of the cities. But his lack of experience could hurt him if he wanted to be at the top of the ticket.

Trump Card. Percy's time is more likely to come in 1972 than next year. Another attractive young Republican in much the same situation is Lindsay, also mentioned for both spots. Lindsay squelches such talk and categorically refuses to consider a national campaign —on anybody's ticket. That, after all, is only sensible. He has been mayor for less than 22 months, needs more time to prove his worth—and to win re-election in 1969—before he can raise his sights. In 1970, he could run for Senator or Governor, whichever post that Bobby Kennedy is not seeking. The two may well clash some day, and it would be foolish for either to risk a fatal collision in New York.

If Lindsay can maintain the pace and record he has set so far in "un governable" Gotham, he may well prove a formidable opponent by 1972 or 1976 for Bobby or any other Democrat. He is a dove on Viet Nam, but maintains: "I do not believe, and never have, that the U.S. should unilaterally withdraw from Viet Nam tomorrow." His intimacy with the urban crisis is his trump card for the future, since that is likely to be the No. 1 U.S. domestic problem for generations.