Although he says his only immediate aim is to rebuild the Republican Party at the local level, former Texas Gov. John B. Connally is still a careful fellow.

"Oh, no, I certainly haven't counted myself out" of the 1980 Presidential race, Connally said while in Cambridge this week.

And many observers thought it was fairly obvious why Connally was so happy to return to Harvard after serving as a visiting fellow at the Institute of Politics last year. Former President Richard M. Nixon's favorite cabinet member, long considered possible Presidential timber, was considered to be looking for contacts for future campaigns.

While he was at it, Connally also delivered his first Gustav Pollak Lecture for the Kennedy School of Government.

In the past, the Kennedy School and the institute often selected well-known conservatives as visiting lecturers and fellows, presumably to offset the University's "liberal" reputation. But speculation continues over why Graham T. Allison '62, dean of the Kennedy School, selected Connally, rather than a more academically-oriented member of the right, such as Arthur Burns or Milton Friedman.

One possible answer: "Big John" carries weight in the corporate world as well as the South and Midwest. Potential fundraisers, applicants and even recruiters west of the Mississippi might well cotton to old Johnnie Harvard a bit more, if old Johnnie Connally gives them the word.

So, as he urged unrestrained economic aggression on a world-wide scale, Connally received a royal welcome from both the Kennedy School of Government and a timid group of several hundred students who politely listened to his lecture.

The only protesters in sight were somelaw studentswho--remembering Connally's indictment in 1973 on charges of accepting a payoff from the milk lobby--set up a booth outside the Science Center and sold the wholesome stuff.

Connally, who was acquitted on the charges, apparently was not thirsty.