Aug. 19, 1963 - Governor Henry Bellmon of Oklahoma (pictured), the lone Republican voice at the Southern Governors Conference, said today that if his party nominated Senator Barry Goldwater for President, the Arizonan would carry Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma. Gov. Bellmon, the first Republican Governor in the history of Oklahoma statehood, is not committed to Goldwater, but he said that if the convention were held today, he would be nominated. Asked whether he agreed with Pennsylvania’s Republican Governor, William Scranton, that President Kennedy would win if the election were held now, he replied: “I disagree. Governor Scranton may be speaking for Pennsylvania and I for the Middle West. I think the Kennedys are weaker than when they went in.” At a news conference, Bellmon dashed ice water on the question of reviving former Vice President Nixon as a Presidential candidate. “His failure in 1960 more or less rules him out,” the 41-year-old Oklahoman said. For the present or for the future? he was asked. “I would say for all time,” he replied.
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