Serious?

Mixed in with the Christmas cards received last week by Rudy Stapleton, Democratic chairman of Fulton County, Ohio, was a letter of more than usual interest. It said: "To enable the selection of the delegates from Ohio, and thus qualify them for attendance at the convention, I will allow my name to be used as the favorite son to whom you and others so disposed will be initially pledged." The letter was signed by Ohio's Governor Frank Lausche.

Just a month before, Frank Lausche had been asked if he might run for President, and he replied: "I don't think I have a chance." But his announcement last week was taken seriously even outside Ohio by some Democrats, who see Lausche as a candidate around whom the party's more conservative members may be able to rally. Georgia's Senator Richard Russell, Texas' Governor Allan Shivers and Louisiana's Governor Robert Kennon are among those who have spoken approvingly of Lausche as a possible candidate for President.

Since Lausche plays his political cards notoriously close to his rumpled shirt front, it is difficult to tell if he has changed his mind and now takes his chances seriously. One indication may come in February, when the deadline falls for his filing to run for re-election as governor, or against Republican George Bender for the U.S. Senate.

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