Tuesday, March 26, 1968
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3
GOP has abundance of V-P candidates
(Editor's note: This article is part of a series dealing with the 1968 presidential race and the election process.)
By Sandy Zahradnik Kansan Staff Reporter
With first George Romney, then Nelson Rockefeller, taking themselves out of contention, the race for the Republican presidential nomination has degenerated into a casual stroll for Richard Nixon.
However, the vice-presidential campaign is quietly shaping up as a fairly interesting battle—although no one has, as yet, openly declared his candidacy.
The field presently appears to be a mixed bag of politicians widely varying in experience and desire. Charles Percy of Illinois, a freshman senator with considerable proven executive talent but little governmental experience, has been mentioned often as a possibility. Most of the other contenders are governors: Ronald Reagan of California, equally inexperienced, is running as a favorite son presidential candidate and is on several primary ballots. Romney of Michigan is one of the most popular chief executives that state has ever had. Claude Kirk of Florida seems to be the most eager to hold the post.
Pick one of four
When the delegates to the Republican National Convention meet in Miami Beach Aug. 5 to select a running mate to the presidential nominee — which seems likely to be Nixon—the will probably select one of these four.
Percy looms as one of the more popular choices for the vice-presidential slot. In his first term in the Senate, Percy has shown little of the reticence common to freshman senators.
He has blasted U.S. bombing policy in Vietnam in particular, and the administration in general.
He has made a speaking tour, addressing everyone from bank presidents to Berkeley students.
He has also taken the seemingly required Vietnam junket — and was criticized for getting caught in a mortar attack—jeopardizing the lives of the marines accom-
colleagues have accused him of being too pushy for a "greenhorn."
With favorite sons controlling 688 votes needed to nominate the presidential candidate, delegates to the Miami convention may be seeing more smoke-filled caucus rooms than Florida sunshine. Percy has been mentioned as a man who could break the deadlock.
However, because of his lack of experience in government, Percy would more likely come out as the number two man on the Republican ticket.
'Not running'—Percy
Percy has consistently denied that he is running for anything in 1968, but he did say he would consider the second spot. He said it would depend to a great extent on who his running-mate was, and upon the circumstances and conditions at the time.
Gov. Ronald Reagan of California has also been in the forefront when vice-presidential nominations are discussed.
GOP leaders acknowledge that Nixon is probably the strongest Republican candidate for president at the present time, and some believe a Nixon-Reagan ticket would be the best combination for national unity in November.
Reagan also has often been mentioned as a Rockefeller running mate, but Rockefeller's Thursday announcement that he would not run has made Reagan, if anything, the leading non-candidate for the presidential nomination.
The California governor is on primary ballots in Wisconsin, Nebraska, Oregon and his home state. There is an outside chance that, especially with Rockefeller out, Reagan could build enough support to gain the presidential nomination.
Would accept VP spot
Reagan, meanwhile, in an interview with U.S. News and World Report, said he would not accept the vice-presidential nomination. He said he wants to stay in California and keep his programs there going. He wouldn't have an opportunity to do this as vice-president.
panying him. Some of his Senate He also seemed to feel that the
Reagan doesn't want to hurt his prestige for the future. If he can become part of a ticket capable of winning in November, he might reconsider and accept the nomination now. But he apparently is not willing to chance the possibility of getting that "loser" image that some believe Nixon has.
How about Romney?
number two position was a standby post, offering little deal authority. "The vice-president certainly is not going to establish policy," he said.
Though George Romney has pulled out of the presidential campaign in favor of someone with a better chance, he could conceivably get back into the race as the vice-presidential candidate.
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Look magazine's senior-editor, T. George Harris, who wrote "Romney's Way," suggested that Romney is only following his natural instinct for superwooing, and that the governor is carrying on a "red-hot courtship with the public."
843 Mass.
If this is the case, it is doubtful if Romney would want to withdraw from the scene altogether, and leaving himself open for the vice-presidential bid would keep him in the limelight.
Though little has been said about it, a Nixon-Romney slate is a possibility. Despite the fact that these two men were running against each other less than a month ago, this ticket could heal splits caused by the campaign—and it would give Nixon 44 more convention delegates in his favor.
at the chance. And there is the chance that someone will ask the Florida governor that very question.
Claude Kirk seems to be waiting only for someone to ask him to be number two before leaping
Kirk vs. Wallace
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Next: The national conventions.
If Kirk should get the Republican second spot, this would help bring the South into the Republican fold. To that end, he grabs at every chance to rip away at George Wallace, whose third-party candidacy in November's presidential election could eat heavily into the Republican vote in the South.
cultivated; otherwise nobody knows you are alive."
He explained: "The garden of controversy must be continually
Kirk is a shrewd politician, described by a former associate as "a political huckster, a phony, and very dangerous." The Miami Herald refers to him as "Claudius Maximus."
Other possible vice-presidential hopefuls include two New Yorkers: Mayor John V. Lindsay and Sen. Jacob Javits. Unfortunately, if the frontrunner for the presidential nomination — Nixon — is nominated, neither Javits nor Lindsay will be able to be on the ticket.
For a non-declared candidate, Kirk has done quite a bit of traveling. His travels out of state in a private Lear jet have averaged 10,000 miles a month. Kirk claims that his absenteeism fits into the "Kirk plan for instant controversy."
Kirk seems to be making sure that a lot of people know he is alive—and willing.
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