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Offensive Coddling. While one such difficulty is unlikely to consign Rockefeller's prospects to the nether regions, it did occur at an awkward time for him. He undoubtedly won further sympathy from labor by refusing to break a strike, but to get his own party's nomination, he needs support from the Republican right—the very segment that would be most offended by his coddling of the sanitationmen's union. Richard Nixon, campaigning in New Hampshire, drew fervent crowd response by siding with Lindsay. "Breaking the law of the state," Nixon declared, "cannot and must not be rewarded." Ronald Reagan observed that Rockefeller was "treading on thin ice." Even George Romney, the beneficiary of Rockefeller's political largess, allowed that "where there is a breakdown of public service, I would order in the National Guard, yes, sir."
Lost in the clatter of criticism was an important accomplishment. Lindsay, for all his idealism, was unable to end the strike, while the more pragmatic Rockefeller did just that. The Governor's intervention also led, if indirectly, to an orderly means of settlement. As the Governor's press secretary, Leslie Slote, claimed: "John Lindsay has won a victory of style. In the end, my guy will win the victory of substance."
-One danger in using the Guard was potential violence. No Rockefeller can forget the 1913-14 strike at the family-controlled Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. at Ludlow. At least 25 people, including women and children, died in the shooting and in fires that broke out after the militia intervened; the number of dead was never precisely established. Lindsay, however, stipulated that he wanted the troops to be unarmed, with local police providing security.