Leave It to Johnny

A few weeks ago the name of John Byrnes, 50, highly respected ten-term Republican Congressman from Wisconsin, was associated with one of ex-Senate Democratic Secretary Bobby Baker's big-money schemes. Byrnes had helped get a favorable tax ruling for a Milwaukee insurance firm, then at Baker's urging bought $2,300 worth of stock, wound up with about 1,100% increase in value. Later Byrnes pleaded innocent in a dramatic House floor speech, promised to give his profits to charity. And last week Byrnes--with the blessing of top Wisconsin Republicans--announced that he would run as a favorite-son candidate in the state presidential primary on April 7.

The idea, said Byrnes, was to prevent a "divisive" party battle in Wisconsin between other G.O.P. presidential hopefuls--most notably Nelson Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater. He attached a condition: that the major candidates agree to stay out of the state and leave Wisconsin's 30 delegates committed to him.

They quickly agreed--but one may have made a mistake. For Wisconsin is one state in which Rockefeller might be favored to beat Goldwater. A big factor: Wisconsin law allows the crossing of party lines in its primary voting. Thus a good many Democrats could be expected to vote in the Republican primary--and conservative Goldwater is hardly a Democratic hero. But Rocky--attributing either too much cynicism or too much sophistication to Wisconsin Democrats--figured it another way: he feared Democrats might vote for Goldwater on the theory that Barry would be the easiest Republican candidate for President Johnson to beat. Rockefeller therefore said: "I will respect the wishes of Republican leaders of Wisconsin."

As for Goldwater, he had been trying to figure a way of staying out of Wisconsin, and now his sigh of relief could be heard across the land. Said he of Byrnes's favorite-son candidacy: "Because of the peculiar election laws, a Republican is taking his life in his hands if he enters the primary in Wisconsin. I would much rather see Johnny carry the load."

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