(4 of 10)
Lacerated Brow. Yet Rockefeller's initial reaction was to maintain his aloof stance. Soon after arriving in Washington, he went to his 35-acre estate on Foxhall Road for a conference with his brother, Governor Winthrop Rockefeller of Arkansas, and Governor Spiro Agnew of Maryland. Agnew was eager to line up specific commitments from as many of the Republican Governors as possible, to create a draft, in effect, from that powerful group. Rockefeller and George Hinman, his chief political aide, froze the idea at once. Agnew, who had come to Washington saying it was time to stand up and be counted, then passed the word that the Governors must have the opportunity to "sort out their thinking before taking positions on any candidate."
Rockefeller still felt that he could keep his hand from being forced. And while a majority—perhaps 18—of his 25 fellow Governors are generally counted as pro-Rockefeller in varying degrees, few of them are now prepared to make an official commitment. Sev eral of the Governors in fact plan to go to Miami as favorite-son nominees.
Next stop was the opening reception of the Governors' Conference. Rockefeller and Wife Happy made a suitably late entrance at 8 p.m. and immediately dominated the scene. Newsmen and politicians alike scrambled toward the couple as if Rockefeller had not only announced but won. Connecticut Governor John Dempsey got lacerated by a wild camera. Rockefeller gallantly dabbed the blood from Democrat Dempsey's brow with his handkerchief.
Over the Fish. Grinning his winningest, winking his twinklingest, Rockefeller took it all in with obvious satisfaction. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed. "Terrific!" Then down to business, still smiling: "My position has not changed. We want to win. The party needs unity. I'm exactly where I was before. I'm not making any move." Wink. "You're winking at me, Governor," said a reporter. "I'm not winking at anybody," said the Governor.
Still later that Ash Wednesday night, Rockefeller was host at a private dinner for New York Republican legislators. Over fish and French white wine, he heard more warnings about the dangers of standing pat. By way of response, he said: "I have been accused of dividing the party once [in 1964]. I don't want that ever thrown in my face again." And he again conceded his willingness to be drafted. "But there's a question of how you define a draft," he told his fellow New Yorkers. "I'm going to be thinking about that."
His thoughts were undoubtedly jogged by Romney's follow-up press conference Friday morning. Instead of coming out for Rockefeller as many expected he would do, Romney said he was not advising his supporters in New Hampshire or anywhere else about whom to work for. Like Rockefeller, he talked of the need for unity. Unlike Rockefeller, he also talked of the need for potential candidates to make clear their positions on major issues—most especially on Viet Nam. This jab hit Rockefeller in the vitals. There are few subjects on which he has been more silent recently, and his reticence has prompted rumors that he has modified his prowar stand of two years ago.