European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 22, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                                , 1968 the stars and stripes Page rumours of lbs comeback Are false tue rumours Are still go Ihung but the rumours of o Johnson vent his being Able to do much must be ruled a Tut a. In. A. I.  the he that id of Johnson is to change mid to democratic nomination in o lat m nut dirt 4.nobody knows where Tho to port com. From. But they Proad because lbs is unpredictable and la democratic convention arrangements Are confused As though the hand that pull the strings were hid ing something. It is True As Humphrey opponents and even some of his aides Point out the solid bloc of delegates expected to name Humphrey on the first ballot Aren t really locked in for  they Are organization regulars and Johnson still controls the organization. Flora Lewis but the rumours of a Johnson comeback Are certainly false. Tho reasons for his withdrawal hold oven More firmly today than they did when he announced hit decision March 31. Even if he could be nominated even if he could be elected he clearly could not govern Tho country. He is detested by the left and distrusted by the right. The Middle has melted away from under the Man who built the great consensus. He cannot Appeal to a Broad Public. He can scarcely appear in Public. The very base of Johnson s political career the Congress re volts at his touch. He is going to have to concentrate All the in fluence he has left to push through his appointment of Abe Fortas As chief Justice of the supreme court. The Effort will pre Ven his to do else and maybe the president won t be Able to do even that. Even so innocuous and non controversial a measure As High Way beautification turned out to be More than he can now Man age. Basically Congress rejected it because it is in a mood to reject anything that comes with the lbs stamp although on the Highway Bill the initials really stood for lady Bird Johnson. Outside Tho executive Branch of government which he still rules the Only political levers left to Johnson Are those which control the democratic party apparatus. He knows better than anyone that it in t enough to guide a nation. So the Chance of a sudden reversal of his retirement plans must be ruled out. But the re mors do have an effect. They make it harder for Humphrey of risk the presidential Wrath with an open break on the Issue of bombing North Vietnam be cause they Are a reminder that Johnson does still control those party levers. He could make the democratic convention a Sham Bles that would ruin Humphrey s Dicey chances of election. That is the political drama in the fight on a Vietnam platform Plank. On this Issue Mccarthy Mcgovern and the remnants of the Kennedy group will be pull ing in a single direction for an open break with the while House. The Point is to Force Humphrey to the unequivocal decision he has so far refused to make. The lines have been drawn so tightly that it is hard to see any room for the blurred Compromise Humphrey would prefer. If he won t endorse an unqualified de Mand for an immediate end to bombing the North so real peace negotiations can Start he will face a fierce fight on the convention floor. That is the perfect Way to destroy a Unity Campaign before it starts. And if Humphrey does at last sidle off his barbed wire Fence and plunge into the dovecote he cannot know what revenge May be in store. He does know that Johnson will never forgive him that Johnson s anger in mighty and that Johnson s hand lies heavy on the party Structure he must win. It is a painful place where Humphrey sits and a Onjel Choice before him. William  or. Robinson left on vapor Trail Jackie Robinson the former baseball Star is in the news for having bolted the Republican party in protest against these Lection of Richard Nixon As presidential candidate. Robinson s renunciation was done on Tele vision in answer to questions by three interrogators no one of whom unfortunately undertook to extract from Robinson exactly the nature of his resentment All the More Peculiar since he backed Nixon in i960. He was permitted to leave merely the usual vapor to the effect that we. Can t tolerate a ticket which is racist in  somewhere along the line someone gave Robinson the impression that men and women were convening from All Over the country in Miami Beach in order to please Jackie Robinson. There is no doubting the sincerity of Robinson s Devotion to Nelson Rockefeller for whom to use Robinson s own words he has tremendous respect admiration and great  accordingly when the republicans decided not to nominate Rockefeller the news befell Robinson As in the nature of a personal tragedy. I Don t know of anything that Hurt me More than the nomination of Richard Nixon and the rejection of governor Rockefeller he was though Reading a line in it can be  Rob Jwon s retaliation against the publican party for its activities n Miami Beach was not limited own withdrawal from the he threatened that if that he was not a racist. A year or so later i myself was running for Public office. A Day or two before the election Robinson went on the air to threaten the Community with dire occurrences not if i won that was never conceivable but if new York should affront Robin son by giving me a substantial vote. If they get a substantial number of the votes Here in this City it could Only mean that we have a lot More bigots than we figured that we had Here in new York City and we have already decided with the talk of the klan coming into new York that we be got to get ready and pre pare ourselves for the ultimate. So i a very frankly to you that if Buckley and the other people who Are supporting him Garner a substantial number of votes Here you can look for problems in this  and then a few weeks ago governor Rockefeller Cottered Over to Robinson s front Lawn in Stamford conn., and sat through a declamation delivered to negro guests by Robinson to the effect that Black americans could not support Nixon for president. An  which governor Rockefeller did t Challenge. It is surely time to put an end to the mischievous National habit of taking seriously this pompous moralize. The gentleman is a philosophical Moron whose most distinctive Public service would consist in going Back to Elemen tary school. There he would be taught that racism consists precisely in such statements As he made Over television i am first o Black Man second an Ameri can third a Republican. Republicans might take minor Comfort in my discovering that since he built his Home in Stam Ford in 1956, he has never registered As a Republican but As an Independent and indeed his principal usefulness has been All along to the democratic party. C  no ten s . Picking Agnew May be Nixon s salvation Ernest Cuneo Nixon wins people will be so. . To Iii a a rated there will be the most a a i is in a i a jowl happen of belong to a group of Robinson i do not remember " All began to think of if. It i noun years ago. Barry Goldwa he ust been nominated for a usual a gol9 Gold or of racism. A Ualle a the time ton in a trav washing. On " Sutis Fonfe 1�e a h d of to i la him or. What is generally accepted As Richard Nixon s greatest Boner the selection of gov. Ted a new of Maryland As his running mate May Well turn out to be hit most shrewd and daring Movo. Savagely at tacked by the Republican organization of the great Industrial states As an undue Concession to the South or. Nixon s selection of gov. Agnew is nothing less than the mounting of an invasion of these Gigantic states to capture the silent mid dle european and Mediterranean ethnic groups. Had he not named gov. A new it is accepted mat he would have picked gov. John Volpe of Massachusetts. The fact that gov. Agnew is of greek and gov. Volpe of italian descent identifies or. Nixon s target. An examination of the voting statistics reveals his probable line of reasoning. Surely or. Nixon expected no support from the negro vote or the heavily jewish populations. In new York state he is weak est. It was his Center of opposition in 1960 As it a for his opposition to nomination in 1968. Jackie Robinson the great negro athlete and a Rockefeller re publican has already bolted. Sen. Javits has expressed disenchantment with gov. Agnew. Sen. Brooke has followed. But Richard Nixon Defeated this whole array of great Eastern states and California with them in the Republican convention. But within those states Are huge polish greek and italian ethnic populations. Though they Are normally democratic this is the Winter of their discontent with their traditional party. The polish democrats joke about it. They declare not Only was Gronouski removed from the Cabinet he was  the italian descended democratic congressmen smoulder that not even an assistant Cabinet Post went to a Man or woman of italian descent. Numerically the largest group is italian. While the claim that there Are 25 million of italian descent alone probably is exaggerated the elected poles greeks and italians seem to indicate a Basic strength far beyond that reflected by appointive National office party 01 govern t. Thus the selection of gov Agnew of Maryland and the High consideration Given gov. Volpe of Massachusetts by or Nixon indicates that he will throw open the highest places in the land to those of Middle european and Mediterranean Des cent. To the extent that he succeeds in convincing these groups he will split wide open the traditionally democratic Catholic vote in the big cities. Outside of new York state this could have tremendous effects. Or. Nixon lost mighty Illinois to John f. Kennedy by Only 9,000 votes in 1960 out of nearly 5 million cast. Had or. Nixon received Only 5,000 More polish and italian votes he would have been within inches of the White House. Or. Nixon lost Michigan by Only 67,000 votes in 1960. A switch of 34,000 votes would have Given him this great state and Michigan is a polish the of Pons a Jpn i cd in to �  a and  on \ \  it Pree n tto a of the author and arc in no .s.i, to t � considered a repro in tag the  or the stir and Stripe itself j. Of the United Sutra and italian population Center. Both gov. Agnew and gov. Volpe Are typical of the silent but tremendous economic and Vance of people of their ethnic background. Or. Nixon s invitation to these ethnic groups is an invitation to leave the demo cratic party traditionally tha party of immigrants on the ground that they Are no longer immigrants but established americans. If or. Nixon succeeds in igniting the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean ethnic groups with the idea that he is their Champion against racial prejudice levelled at them he May Well attract great strength in the great states where he is regarded As weak est. It could be the decisive fac Tor in the 1968 election thus in assailing or. Nixon s Choice of gov. Agnew a the Choice of the South tru Eastern Industrial Republican  tons May hons overlooked the Middle european and Mediterranean ethnic Gioppi in their own states. In this Case if i Juit pos Ila that some republicans Vimo now be him May Well be Clotch Foi his Coci Tsaili later