Feb. 20, 1964 - Governor Nelson Rockefeller (R-NY) concentrated his New Hampshire primary campaign today in the Manchester area, home ground of his severest critic, William Loeb, a powerful local newspaper publisher. Loeb, whose Union-Leader commonly refers to the divorced-and-remarried Rockefeller as a “wife-swapper,” republished today an unfavorable series of articles about Rockefeller originally printed in New York.
Rockefeller, who labels himself as “proud to be among Loeb’s enemies,” followed his usual technique of waiting for a questioner to ask how he felt about Loeb’s attacks on him. He then came through with his stock answer: “This man called Dwight D. Eisenhower, when he was President of the United States, a ‘stinking hypocrite.’ I am proud to be in the company of those who have been attacked by this man.” The retort gets a reaction ranging from smiles to cheers, but Rockefeller’s managers counted a net gain. Some politicians believe Loeb’s enemies are silent but numerous.
Moderate weather gave Rockefeller a chance to do a lot of the handshaking kind of campaigning that is his forte — and he made the most of it. The day included a coffee klatch in a downtown restaurant, handshaking in a Manchester supermarket, a luncheon with about 150 housewives and a sprinkling of men in nearby Bedford Town Hall, a visit to the Manchester Jewish community center, and a tea in Goffstown.
