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Freed from the endless political bickering, Rocky hopes to be able to devote his remaining months as Vice President to the urgent national problems that have always concerned him. But stripped of his political power, he may find that he lacks clout in other areas as well. Instead of being attacked, he may be ignored—the ultimate humiliation for such a lifelong political activist. Richard Cheney, Rumsfeld's successor as White House Chief of Staff, is a Rumsfeld man. When a White House staffer was recently asked a question about the Vice President, he replied "Who?" and then chuckled malevolently.
Yet Rocky is not without political resources. Still the nation's foremost Republican moderate, he refused to take himself out of the 1976 presidential race when he was questioned at his press conference. If Ronald Reagan upsets Ford in the early primaries, and forces him out of the running, it is conceivable that Rocky would enter the race. In part, Rockefeller dropped off the ticket because he did not want to continue to feed ammunition to the Republican right—what he calls "a minority of a minority." He feels that nothing less than the salvation of the Republican Party is at stake. He said at his press conference, "I think the Republican Party is only going to be an effective party if it reflects the best interests of the American people, and traditionally that is in the center. That is where our country has always been. That is where the Republican Party has won."