Evening star., 1952-03-01
RE Political NH
lnfightino Gets Intense
On 6. Q. P. condidutes
Hectic MsnsuveFlne Appears
In Minnssotu and Wisconsin
Dy eOuId LiAeOIn

IN MlhheS0td uhd wisconsin
By 6OuId LiAeOlh
ffle itlhHhtiflg affi0flE tte Retubiis
eail presidential eafidldates and thelF
tilatiAkefs Flows ihefe Intense As TIE
pfll9afleA f9t Tue eIeetl9fl, OIL deieeates
t0 .the 81 d. n Natl6fiai .e0flVefltl0h
atla ler the expression 81 "Pfeiefenee"
8atstsRalRg examples ore found IN
Minnesota aFla Wisconsin, where the
maneHVerthR hAs beeh httle Eh0rt 81
heetler Mlnnes9taS prlmRFV takes place
March lsr N9tWlthstandlFlg Sirens El1
Eenh9Wep Rba FRft sentiment IN the
STATE, he hela has Been leIt, en- the
Republican slae, "a HaF9la w. Rtassenl
fgrmer GpyeFnM ana new nm active
candidate feF the presidential HnmiERr
tlen, This does not please the Taft
people q little bit, They would like t0
see stasseA's political stature cut down
IN this pFiMary-s0 that Stassen would
be weaker In the Wisconsin primary
which CONES two weeks later, Mr., Stas-
sen has q complete slate Of delegates
running against q similar slate OF Taft
delegates In the Badger State, The Taft
people are counting tremendously on .
victory there,
state Shifts Aid Stassen.
Senator Taft said he would not enter
the Minnesota primary because he be-
heved Stassen, favorite son, was en-
titled to have the delegation. Senator
Lodge Of Massachusetts,, campaign
manager for Gen. Eisenhower, took a
similar position. However, some ardent
Eisenhower supporters went ahead on
their own and put up an Eisenhower
slate Of delegate candidates. Rumor
had 1t that Roy E. Dunn, Republican
national committeeman and Taft man
ager In Minnesota, was going along with
the Eisenhower slate, just to put a
crimp in Stassen. the idea being that
then 1t would be easy for Taft to take
Stassen in the Wisconsin race. Now the
court has ruled out the Eisenhower
slate-on technicality. So it looks
now as though Mr. StasSen were assured
Of the Minnesota delegation.
Edward c. Sletterdahl, chairman Of
State group favoring Gen. Douglas
Macarthur, although Gen. MacArthur's
name has been taken of the ballot in
Minnesota at his request, is the only
other contestant in the Republican
presidential primary. Mr.. Dunn Is said
to be inclined to go along with MIR. Slet-
terdahl.
This apparent effort to give Stassen
black eye In his old-home State seems
incongruous. particularly as the Taft
forces speak with such confidence Of
defeating Eisenhower in Wisconsin.
They, the Taft managers, claim that
Taft will lose only two delegates, if any,
to Stassen in the Wisconsin fracas.
New Complication Sets In.
But now new complication has set
in. Gov. Earl Warren Of California has
entered the Wisconsin primary, backed
by Warren supporters and by Eisen-
hover supporters, too. The Taft
managers put on bold face. They say
that the Warren entry will merely split
the Taft opposition, assuring him Of
winning the delegates. 1t happens, how
ever, that the Warren Eisenhower group
has number Of prominent Republicans
and former LaFollette Progressives on
their slate. Fred r. Zimmerman, Secre.
tary OF State. an Eisenhower supporter,
is on the Warren slate, and in the same
: camp is former Gov. Phil LaFoilette.
and Ralph M. Immell, who has twice
been a candidate for the Republican
gubernatorial nomination.
Senator Taft has the Tom Coleman
organization back of him. Gov. Kohler.
however. is more favorable to Eisen-
hover than he is to Taft The Stassen
people, for their part, speak with great
confidence Of winning a majority of the
wisconsin delegates. They insist that
surveys they have conducted show q
remarkable trend away from Taft and
toward Stassen. Stassen carried the
Wisconsin primary four years ago against
Gov. Dewey Of New York He will CAM
paign there during the last two
weeks before the primary. Senator Taft.
too. Is planning to spend a full two
weeks in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin .,
primary has been regarded as peculiarly
significant in recent years. It spelled
downfall to the hopes Of Wendell L.
W1llkie for denomination for Presi.
dent in 1944-and Mr.. Willkie with.
drew soon after his defeat there by the
Dewey forces.
Democrats might move over to the
Republican primary in Wisconsin
some may-were 1t not for the contest
they themselves have. Two Truman
states Of delegates are warning with a
slate for Senator Kefauver. Anything
can happend in WisconSin-and usually
something surprising does. .