REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL AIDES 433

and Charles Percy. Therefore, I should probably announce that I am
an eligible candidate for this great office so you will be convinced
beyond a doubt that I am not.

Some of my constituents in Maryland are contemplating an Agnew-
for-Vice President campaign. This drive began almost immediately
after we raised taxes, making it rather obvious that they are putting
what they consider the best interests of their State before the best
interests of their country.

I understand that I am to speak for about ten minutes on something
controversial like abortion laws, riots in the streets, the use of laser
beams in Vietnam; or about something interesting like what the Gov-
ernor of Virginia said to the Governor of North Carolina in the men's
room at the Southern Governors' Conference. Then I believe we are
to have a question and answer period, where you will ask questions
I evade or refuse to answer. Then we shake hands and depart the
way Republicans usually do — after a rendezvous with thought — with
our spirits uplifted and our minds unchanged.

However, I do want to make some observations on the 1968 Presi-
dential election which should have more than a passing interest to
all of you here since it could mean the difference between your con-
tinuing to enjoy the fruits of power or going back to working for a
living again. Imagine after all these years of telling your Senator or
Congressman what to do, what to say, what to read and what to wear,
returning to commercial life in some important position of authority
and being told those very same things by your directors, stockholders
and wives. It is far better that we win the next election so you are
spared all that.

I am bullish about our chances in 1968, if just this one time our
party and its paddlers won't "tip the canoe and Rocky too. " For I
am convinced that Nelson Rockefeller will win the people, once he
wins the party; and I find it conceivable — though not nearly as prob-
able — that some other Republican candidate might also, under op-
portune conditions, provide President Johnson with ample time to
enjoy his grandchild and to pull his dog's ears.

It looks more and more like a promising year for Republicans if
only because it is a dreadful one for Democrats — and because there
are some powerful forces going for us that once had the habit of
going for them. Our allies in the coming election are not so much
new ideas as new and unyielding fears. It is not a matter of economic
recession but a sense of moral and spiritual depression. It is not purely