Republicans: Anchors Aweigh

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Little Man's Ticket. When Lindsay's bid for the presidency moves forward —and there are many who consider it inevitable, despite his lack of a substantial power base—he may find an ideal running mate on the opposite end of the continent. Washington's Governor Daniel Evans, 42 this week, has already been in office three years, and is frequently mentioned as a vice-presidential possibility for 1968. Like the others, he dismisses such speculation. "If I had to make my choice between the two Washingtons," he says, "I would select Washington State any time."

Nonetheless, Evans may well be destined for the other Washington. A civil engineer who, appropriately, keeps a slide rule on his desk at the capitol in Olympia, he can point at a 12% rise in state personal income and a budget surplus of $115 million where a $32 million deficit existed three years ago. When he talks of "the involvement of individuals," the need for "a mechanism for getting together those who need help and those who want to help," he reminds listeners of Health, Education and Welfare Secretary John Gardner.

While Lindsay and Evans spurn the vice-presidency now, there are others who court it openly. "Here I am," says Florida's Governor Kirk, "from a Texas family, born in California, Governor of Florida. When you stop to think about it—which I never do—that's 176 convention delegates for openers." Texas' Senator John Tower, 42, will go to the convention as a favorite son, figures his record of what he calls "progressive conservatism" makes him an ideal second man on almost any ticket. Wags suggest that a combination of Percy (5 ft. 8 in.) and Tower (5 ft. 5 in.) would be the perfectly Lilliputian event: a Little Man's Ticket.

Filling a Vacuum. For the G.O.P., 1968 may represent the best opportunity in years—but the party has earned a reputation for booting such opportunities away. The late Sam Rayburn once said: "Just leave the Republicans alone and they'll manage to screw it up every time." As Esquire magazine noted this month: "The Republican Party could probably beat Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 if it did not have to run a candidate against him." The more likely it seems that Lyndon Johnson can be defeated, the more tempted the G.O.P. may be to blow its chances by putting up a candidate who is acceptable to the party pros rather than to the electorate.

One complication is that 15 men, controlling 666 votes (one short of the needed 667), will be going to the convention as favorite sons. That will make it difficult, though not impossible, for any candidate to stitch together a majority before the first gavel sounds, as Goldwater did. Nixon or Reagan could do it only by forging a solid block in the South and West, which is improbable. The moderates can prevail, but only by showing far greater cohesion and determination than they did in 1964. "We have learned from sad experience," says Rhode Island Governor Chafee, "that when most of us remain passive, the vacuum is filled by those who do not represent what we and our party historically believe."