Evening star., 1951-05-19
The Political Mill
6. 0. P. in Midwest :
Would Druft Eisenhower
Survey Also Shows Toft
Favored by Ronk and File
By Gould Lincoln

A survey Of sentiment among Republi-
can Party leaders in States of the Mid
west and West during the past 10 days
shows:
First, that draft movement for Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower for the 1852 pres
idential nomination would have wide
support.
Second, that If Gen. Eisenhower, be-
cause Of his military duties in Europe
or fiat announcement he would not
run. is out Of the picture. Senator
Robert A. Taft of Ohio. as of today,
has far and away the most support
among the men and women who select
delegates to the national convention.
The delegates choose the candidate
Third, that Notwithstanding this def
mite Taft support. there may be knock
down, drag fight in next years con-
vention If Gen. Eisenhower stays out.
Taft's Assets Set Forth.
Senator Taft's particular assets in
such contest are counted as follows:
He starts with the conservative wing Of
the party favorable to him. He appeals
to those Republicans who voice a Ge-
sire for presidential nominee definitely
against all degrees of New Deal and
Fair Deal policies and administration
who cannot be called a "me-tooer."
These are the Republicans who want to
stand up toe to toe with the Truman
Democrats and slug it out next year.
Senator Taft has, too. with him those
leaders vino believe that the United
States should pull in it's horns SO far
as foreign policy is concerned-in other
u,hn ,;y,lv
rather than international lines. And
finally, Senator Taft won a remarkable
victory in the senatorial election last
November, carrying Ohio by 100000
votes against his Democratic opponent
with organized labor against him.
His friends say that If he can win a
big industrial State like Ohio, he can
carry others which have big concen-
trations of population.
Against these assets, Senator Taft has
the opposition of many of the more in
ternationally-minded Republicans, whose
thinking on foreign policy runs with
that of the late Senator Vandenberg Of
Michigan. of Gov. Dewey of New York.
of Senators Lodge of Massachusetts, and
Duff of Pennsylvania, and of Harold e.
Stassen, president of the University Of
Pennsylvania. There are those Republi-
cans, too, who feel that Senator Taft has
gone too far toward making the Mac
Arthur military program for the Korean
war a Republican Party issue against
the Democrats. In addition, the So
called progressive wing of the party.
while it respects Senator Taft, does not
go along with him.
Still Cropping Around.
There is still a lot of just cropping
around among the Republicans Some
say they want to nominate this time
a war veteran. Others talk of "new
face" and Of a man "the people like"
And still others are wondering whether
real dark horse" like Wendell Willkie
in 1910, may materialize by next spring.
If Gen. Douglas Macarthur were 10
years younger-61 instead of THE
would be natural as Republican pres
idential nominee, is the comment fire.
quently made. Most Republicans ac-
cept Gen. MacArthur's statement he
will not run for public Office. There are
a few. however. who insist that after
Gen. Macarthur has been about the
country making speeches, as he has
been invited to do, there will be grow
ing demand for him.