In Queens, Mayor Lindsay's campaign workers from the '65 election decided to form an explicitly Republican organization - the John V. Lindsay Republican Club. George Archinal, Republican leader of Queens, refused to recognize them and grant them a charter. This means the club is not legally a Republican organization and cannot send official delegates to conventions.

Colliding with Regulars

Because of ideological differences collisions with the regulars was probably inevitable. Apart from the Manhattan party, the Republican organization in the City is definitely conservative. In the words William F. Buckley Jr., former Conservative party candidate for mayor, Lindsay's nomination was "a rump affair and no more representative of the body of Republican thought in New York than the Democratic Party in Mississippi is representative of the Democratic Party nationally". The Queens leader recently received the Americanism Award of the Catholic War Veterans of Queens Country for his record of anti-Communism. He claims that the Goldwater debacle of 1964 must be blamed on Rockefeller and Javits because they did not support him. Congressman Paul Fino, the Clark Gable like leader of the Bronx, who annually urges Congress to set up a national lottery ("the urge to gamble is deeply ingrained in most people"), condemned the Demonstration Cities Bill as a tool of Black Power.

But more than just ideology is a issue in the conflict between the regulars and the Lindsay-oriented Republicans. Archinal is not interested in making room for Lindsayites in the Queens party. It is easier for him to control the present sixteen-member committee which meets once a month, than an active club with a large potentially-active membership. "If you can't prove that your family has been Republican for at least two generations, they consider you a Democrat. They would rather see their candidate lose at the polls than see their leadership challenged", one Lindsay aide said.

Last June Al Ungar, a former regular Republican, who had become disillusioned with the arthritic organization, ran in the primaries for Republican district leader against the organization's man. While Lindsay never publicly supported his campaign he did send out experienced workers to help Ungar.

Ungar lost by a very narrow margin, but he still amassed an impressive number of votes. His loss was not a real defeat since in this context the incumbent had an overwhelming advantage. He was a resident of long standing and very well-known in the community. Also, it is primarily people beholden to the incumbent for a job or some other favor who vote in the primaries. This is especially true on a rainy day, and that June day it poured. Finally, the neighborhood was staunchly conservative and unlikely to view Lindsay-flavor Republicanism favorably. Therefore Lindsay workers carefully avoided mentioning the mayor; instead they asked voters to support "a dynamic ticket" which was committed to building a strong party.

But the organization did not begin to consider the Lindsay/Ungar threat a serious one until the Rockfeller campaign for Governor in 1966. All through the summer the polls showed O'Connor comfortably ahead and the situation seemed hopeless for the Republicans. Rockefeller asked Archinal and Fino to get a grass-roots campaign rolling for him on the Price storefront Model which had been so effective in the mayoral race. Storefronts were set up but the organization lacked the man-power to run them. Meanwhile, Lindsay Republicans gleefully sat back and watched the regular organization flounder. Then, five weeks before election day when it had become obvious to all, including the governor, that the regulars were incompetent, the Lindsay forces swung become obvious to all, including the governor, that the regulars were incompetent, the Lindsay forces swung into operation. Young people who had worked in the mayoral campaign and then formed either CIA's or Republican clubs, trooped back into the storefronts. On election day Rockefeller carried Queens, O'Connor's home country, by 2000 votes.

Mr. Ragic

Lindsay's involvement in local Republican politics from district primaries to the gubernatorial election has been kept very hush-hush. In Queens, where Al Ungar played a big part in the Rockefeller campaign, he worked under a pseudonym. Ungar is an inveterate cigar smoker, so during the campaign, he was to be known as Mr. Ragic. The identity of Mr. Ragic became the great mystery of the Queens storefronts. Orders were issued over the phone - by Mr. Ragic. Ragic rented a car and driver to take him from one store-front to the next. The driver would park in a nearby dark alley and go inside to bring the Lindsayite store-manager back to the car for a hurried conference. This masquerade was kept up until election day. Then, with a school boy glee, Ungar walked into a storefront and introduced himself as both Al Ungar and Mr. Ragic.

There are several reasons why Lindsay is keeping his involvement in partisan politics a secret. It would be very embarrassing for the Mayor if there were an outright split in the party and the organization refused to endorse him in 1969. And this may happen if the organization decides that they stand to gain more patron age under a Democratic administration. Lindsay is convinced that he could win an overwhelming victory in a Republican primary even without the endorsement of the party bosses, and that the November election would become a mere formality. But a primary fight could very well hurt his standing as a national candidate.

Another reason why Lindsay has played down his differences with the regulars is pressure from the governor, who must have a united delegation at the national convention in 1968. If the issue blows into the open, Rockfeller will have to support the liberal Lindsayites, but he knows that this would split his delegation.

Irreparable Split

But the split in the party may already be irreparable. Lindsay candidates will be contesting six primaries in the Bronx this June. Fino's reaction has been violent. "It is a cool, calculated attempt to infiltrate every country organization", he said recently. Lindsay has denied this. "There is no such plan that I am aware of", Bob Sweet, the new deputy mayor, answered Fino. "On the other hand, we want to encourage as many good people as possible to become interested and active in the Republican party. I know that Fino and Archinal share that view", But Fino insists "there is nothing the mayor can do to make amends".

The Bronx primaries will therefore be a very decisive mile-stone in Lindsay's career. If the Lindsay-oriented candidates succeed, the mayor will have proved that he can build a Republican party almost from scratch, fundamentally altering the political structure of the City. Lindsay will have succeded where LaGuardia failed, by breaking the Democrats' long and onchallenged hold on New York.