The Birdcage Conference

The Republican Governors Association met in Palm Springs, California, during the first week of December. It was a relaxed meeting (or at least as relaxed as a political meeting can be), described not without truth by Bob Hope as “a cabinet auction.” Although no appointments were announced, it was apparent that some decisions had been made. Richard Nixon was heard to refer jocularly to Lieutenant-Governor Robert Finch of California as “Secretary Finch,” Nelson Rockefeller’s cabinet ambitions were revived, and George Romney, despite a typical kamikaze news conference (he used the word “brainwash” four times), seemed to have some grip on the Urban job.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the meeting, however, was what seemed implicit throughout the proceedings. The RGA, founded in 1963 to enable Republican governors “to take their proper position in expressing, developing, and preserving the philosophy of the Republican Party in all the states of the Union,” appears to have decided that what is most significant in Republican philosophy is best embodied in the positions taken by the Western rather than the Eastern governors. The atmosphere, entertainment, and setting of the conference were Western, and it was run without a hitch by Governor Reagan’s staff of Westerners, easily the youngest, most attractive, and most intelligent of the gubernatorial staffs. (The contrast between Ronald Reagan’s people and those of Nelson Rockefeller is especially striking. Rockefeller’s aides are also intelligent and efficient people, but they seem to belong to an older, almost anachronistic generation of machine politics and influence peddling.)

JR

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John R. Coyne Jr.

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The Republican Governors Association met in Palm Springs, California, during the first week of December. It was a relaxed meeting (or at least as relaxed as a political meeting can be), described not without truth by Bob Hope as “a cabinet auction.” Although no appointments were announced, it was apparent that some decisions had been made. Richard Nixon was heard to refer jocularly to Lieutenant-Governor Robert Finch of California as “Secretary Finch,” Nelson Rockefeller’s cabinet ambitions were revived, and George Romney, despite a typical kamikaze news conference (he used the word “brainwash” four times), seemed to have some grip on the Urban job.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the meeting, however, was what seemed implicit throughout the proceedings. The RGA, founded in 1963 to enable Republican governors “to take their proper position in expressing, developing, and preserving the philosophy of the Republican Party in all the states of the Union,” appears to have decided that what is most significant in Republican philosophy is best embodied in the positions taken by the Western rather than the Eastern governors. The atmosphere, entertainment, and setting of the conference were Western, and it was run without a hitch by Governor Reagan’s staff of Westerners, easily the youngest, most attractive, and most intelligent of the gubernatorial staffs. (The contrast between Ronald Reagan’s people and those of Nelson Rockefeller is especially striking. Rockefeller’s aides are also intelligent and efficient people, but they seem to belong to an older, almost anachronistic generation of machine politics and influence peddling.)