European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 10, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse The stars and stripes b Page 9 normalcy triumphs at gop convention to Rort s not the a Nim a moored lustily before to started convention was. The Only bitter the Parade of delegates at the lies fewer jews and Only two to 4h before Anil Smooch on the first night at not of Hinl tart my for non Hining maj Nink Umu nor. Nor int Mann of a Vint Nat Writt a ancient history. 1" o band of two Ion Toors Suvo us. And Ufa an few to believers Tho whole convention Effort was to Orase the trauma of his failure last time. It was the tribute that "17 Arnost no ideology and realism paid to nostalgia. But blessed Blooming Hon in Thoy quickly recovered and went Thi column a choose. His Speed t night t Ness of that sort came from Miami Beach. In their hearts George Romney who blurted out most of the delegates Felt they to a to reporter your Media Lud themselves a to pub owed it to him especially since killed me. I m a dead 0j Jona convention Bat the t this convention has surrendered 4to. . Us a. To it Mil a not a part of the new politics but As part of the new normalcy. Richard Nixon and Nelson Rockefeller Are part of it too. Even Ronald Reagan who for All his hawkish Law and order bluster is a Lamb in Wolf s clothing. De spite their very real differences of policy and personality they now worship Tam by the gods of who can win. Maybe i m wrong and maybe the blood that has been spilt Here is the honest to god blood of political Battle and not the Tomato Catsup to blood meant to show it is an open if i m wrong i la eat for my penance one of the monstrous entrees the atrocious restaurants serve Here. When you look at Max it intr tight. Ahyo i courthouse pol Itic and pragmatism the Pur Uit of the fast Volt business As usual and Public relations As usual. This is a Pas Lona Tely dedicated normalcy convention. Its Only Battle cry is normalcy to understand it you have to understand that whoever Tho Vic Tor and nominee the purpose of Hie convention was to Roo Tab Lish the Republican Imago 1. O. _ before Goldwater. Sure Barry Goldwater was about their real business which was not so much the pick a team of candidates As to repair their Public image. The payoff verdict on the convention came for me from a couple of cabbies. It s for the Birds said one. It s for the Media said another. That team of comedian pundits Bill Buckley and Gore Vidal could have done no better. I have never seen a Conven Tion with a More intense consciousness of the big Media than this one. It in t that the Man agers and delegates Are hostile to the Media As the Goldwater the f t dining and night spots you Par Ody Oscar Wilde and see them As Tho incredible in Pursuit of Tho inedible. But from where i sit the whole convention is a massive Effort to Correct the 1964 Campaign As a kind of Printer s error of history. Also what if it s Nixon what if the whole thing works and Nixon s the one As his canned motto wearily repeats and he picks the candidate for vice presi Dent who can Best balance his own election weaknesses what then the trouble with normalcy is that it does t prepare its practitioners for the wrack and dust and blood of the Campaign itself. This is an unreal convention in an improbable City playing the game of pragmatic politics but with no roots in the kind of America the events of the last decade have carved out. A convention that has few catholics on per cont negro delegates is not a National party convention it is a mockery of social realm. If it i Nixon and to picks a Dove like Mark Hatfield or big City Symbol like John Lind say to run with him rather than yield to the Southern pressures and pick Reagan he will be play ing the game As it has to be played classically and the Dele Gates will take it. But i can t forget that when Lindsay appeared on the plat form for his Brief speech a vibrant figure with the smell of social reality in his words about the ghettos he Laid an egg with the delegates. Of the people who were watch ing to the ones who will count Are the Young the poor the Black the ethnic minorities. The contrasting receptions Given to Goldwater and Lindsay will not be lost on them o 1968, Loi Angeles times William f. Buckley or. Rockefeller knocks Nixon Well editor s note thai column written before the Republican nominated Richard m. Nixon it pays in watching the presidential candidates perform under intense scrutiny to keep reminding yourself of the rules of the game. These Are relatively humane under the circumstances i.e., they not Only let the Candi Date get away with murder they applaud the crime. On the sunday before the convention opened goes. Reagan and Rockefeller appeared before a panel of questioners. Of the to Reagan was in Tho worse position. In appearance he was t an avowed candidate. It had consented to go along on the favorite son fiction. Now this meant among other things that he could not express himself As Between Nixon and Rockefeller. Reagan s constancy to the conservative cause is Well known. So that when forced to declare a preference it was rather like asking son. Fulbright to choose Between Adlai Steven son and Harry Byrd. They said to him governor Reagan the office of the presi Dent of the United states re quires a great Deal of experience in government. Do you who have been governor for Only two years feel that you have sufficient experience a terribly Tough question. Reagan gently advanced his own credentials. To was careful not to diminish those of any other candidate. Rockefeller is not capable of doing that sort of thing. His entire hour with meet the press was a sustained assault on the qualifications of Richard Nixon. He appears to be inca Pable of political chivalry. For instance he was asked How do you account governor for the indisputable popularity of or. Nixon in the Republican party he might have answered that Nixon had a Fine record had served ably As vice presi Dent showed great strength under adversity had a perfectly decent set of parents some thing of the kind. But no. What accounts for Nixon s popularity said or. Rockefeller was his service Over the Yean As a fund Raiser for republicans Washington Star synd Cate inc. 11 aha 1 i knew it a o u d r v t convention Richard Man the gop relies on. I. J. My a a Alan i Flora Lewis that the republicans Are going to give Richard Nixon a second Chance to win the presidency. Why they Are doing it shows something about the Republican party but it shows even More about Richard Nixon. That is important because there is no guaranteed Way to predict How a Man will behave when he a Power and the kind of president a Man will make depends on How Power affects him. Nixon s return from the Heap of discarded politicians owes something but not much to Chance. He has worked at it dog Gedly with an inner persistence which never looked so much u lust or gusto for Power As an urge for vindication. If he makes the White House from the Republican party s View it will be because he proved him self most trustworthy As a dedicated party Man. He let himself Down when he stalked off from defeat in California in 1962 and said he was finished with poli tics. But he never refused the party a service or a favor never let the organization Down. On the face of it Nixon in t the Type of Man Likely to love politics. To the extent that he has had Power he has usually been cautious of it never Flam Boyant Seldom reckless. He in t gregarious he does t draw Energy and excitement from crowds. He does t have cronies or show pleasure in the politicians addiction to an end less Exchange of self compliments. He never relaxes on stage and As far As his close associates know never off stage either. No amount of limelight seems to thaw him. In that sense he in t a Public Man. And yet Nixon clearly does love politics with a deep compulsion As though a had to prove he can do what comes hardest to him. It is a weakness that coolness that Reserve that appearance of struggling against his nature. It is what puts women off and leaves men nodding instead of cheering As they would for an ardent Leader who stirred their passion with his own passionate self Confidence. But it is also a strength. It keeps him going makes him re fuse to give up even after a bit Ter admission of defeat. Certainly Richard Nixon in t the simple transparent figure he has been painted. What lies under that insistent unemotional surface is hard to Tell. He has had his moments of temper Bull usually he controls himself in exultation and anger. He is a loner when it comes to the opinion to preyed in Tho columns and cartoon on Thi pea represent Thom of the author and Are in no Way to a considered at representing thav Lewa of tha Star and Stripe Itsell or of us vol two Sutemi Overom a. Sharing moods and feelings a team Man when it is a matter of getting the Job done. I asked Ono of the men closest to him Why he liked Nixon. The question startled. Because he backs you up the Man said. He listens to you he lets you and there were stories to illustrate this but the Man might have been looking at his candidate through a Telescope or a to tube. He had some Light to reflect but no heat. Nixon does t exude generosity and he in t vindictive. He in t exciting and he in t fright ening. He works harder than most and boasts less. He is intelligent but he Dazzles none and bores Many. It in t quite True that he was nominated be cause he is the second Choice of everybody. He is the first Choice of All those who want More to be reassured than inspired or aroused
