(4 of 4)
The near deadlock may have strengthened some of Nixon's rivals within the G.O.P. Nelson Rockefeller is still a relatively spry 60. He could run for reelection to the New York governorship in 1971, and in 1972 bid again to make the presidential race. Charles Percy bet so heavily on Rocky in Miami Beach that Nixon actually hung up on him in the middle of a furious phone conversation. A Nixon landslide would have left Percy in political limbo. As it is, the G.O.P.'s narrower victory improves Percy's chances somewhat, but not much; he may have trouble mustering support for re-election to the Senate in 1972 from Illinois Republicans of a less liberal stripe.
Two other Republicans who may well have benefited from the closeness of the election stand at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum and opposite ends of the country: John Lindsay and Ronald Reagan. Mayor Lindsay's future depends largely on his agility in leaping from floe to floe in the sea of troubles surrounding New York City. Ronald Reagan, who was reportedly offered a Cabinet post before the Republican Convention, plans to stay on in California as Governor. So far, his objectives have been largely limited to economizing, but if he hopes to run for re-election in 1970, he must begin to build a positive, measurable record of accomplishment.
General Curtis E. LeMay and the Peace and Freedom Party's Eldridge Cleaver can probably boast (if boast is the word) even more precarious futures. The general has lost his $50,000-a-year job as board chairman of a California electronics firm. Cleaver, who won nearly 200,000 votes, is headed for a California courtroom to stand trial for assault with intent to commit murder and assault with a deadly weapon—the result of a shoot-out with Oakland police officers last April. In the meantime, he is lecturing at Berkeley.