The Nation: Lindsay Moves In

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The cliché is the hat in the ring, but last week Democrat John Lindsay tossed in his political right hand, Deputy Mayor Richard Aurelio. Aurelio, the mayor announced, will leave city hall next month to explore further the prospects of a Lindsay presidential nomination. He will set up an office with a small staff and travel continually. Lindsay's decision whether to run, expected early next year, will be based largely on Aurelio's soundings.

Though not a formal declaration the move, Lindsay admitted, was "clearly a step toward candidacy." It was also a sign that the mayor has discovered enough backing throughout the country to warrant a stepped-up effort. On Aurelio's agenda will be Florida and Indiana, two important early-primary states where Lindsay trial balloons were well received, and probably California, which the pros judge an excellent political climate for a Lindsay TV campaign. One advantage to Aurelio's reassignment is that Lindsay risks little. If response is poor, he can gracefully withdraw, rather than drop out with a thud à la Harris. The more likely probability is an all-out run for the nomination choreographed by Aurelio, who engineered Lindsay's third-party mayoralty victory in 1969. Once that kind of machinery is in motion, it will be difficult to turn off.