Evening star., 1952-05-25
By Crosby S. Moves

& lsn
trality toward presidential .candi-
dates. It stuck close to the question
of local party leadership and ran on
its record. The Eisenhower rebels
saw 1t purely as a contest between
their man and Senator Taft, and
cried for decision by the voters.
Last week. they got it. out of the
total Of 1879 qualified voters, 4,597
cast their ballots for Old Guard cam
didateS: 2.972 for the Eisenhower
men. OF the city's 43 election dis
tricts, the rebels captured exactly
four. 1t wasn't merely a defeat, it
was a ShambleS. David had faced
Goliath, picked his stone. let, fly and
missed by mile. The next move
was up to Goliath.
In dissecting this anticlimax, victor
and vanquished find themselves, for
once, in substantial agreement. State
Committee Chairman Joseph C. Nc
Garraghy says it means that good
Republican citizens recognize and
appreciate the devotion with which
the party leadership has performed
its thankless tasks over the lean
years. The vote. he says, amounts
to an Endorsement of the policies
of the State committee, including
the one of sending an uninstructed
delegation to the national conven-
ton. Robert E. Mclaughlin, head
Of the Eisenhower for President Club,
also sees the result as personal VIC
tory for the men who make up the
Old Guard. It's too bad, he says,
that voters couldn't look beyond the
local scene and realize> that Gen.
Eisenhower represents the best, and
perhaps the last, hope Of the G. or.
Overwhelmingly Pro-Toft
Whatever truth there may be in
this analysis, there is no blinking at
the decision that was made by the
voters between presidential candi-
dates. At almost all of the District
meetings. it was apparent to observ-
erS that had the fight been directly
between Senator Taft and Gen. Els
enhower, the Senator would have
won, hands down.
From the beginning, the protesta-
tions OF neutrality by the State COM
mittee leadership were less than con-
vincing. Official policy is one thing.
Personal predictions are another.
There was never any secret that an
overwhelming majority of possible
delegates within the Old Guard were
Stanch Taft men. And just in case
any doubt remained. Senator Taft
himself stepped into the local contest
just in time to clutch reluctant State
committee candidates to his bosom.
With commendable though tardy
candor. Mr.. McGarraghy now admits
that in any kind of close race, Sem
ator Taft can count the Districts six
convention votes as his own. And
while six votes may not seem many.
they represent almost exactly ! per
cent of the number needed for NOM
ination.
Local issues and personalities prob
ably accounted for some proportion
of the interest in the primaries this
year. 1t seems reasonable to assume.
however, that the national issue
dominated the show. Few real parti-
sans of Gen. Eisenhower could have
voted for an Old Guard so clearly
tagged with the Taft label. At some
OF the meetings, Taft enthusiasts
made show of disapproval over the
neutral stand Of State committee
candidates. but. Of course. voted for
them to man.
An Elderly Crowd
One striking thing about the dis
trict meetings was the age of the
crowd that turned out. It seemed to
average close to so and ranged as
high as "a. The younger set, on the
other hand, was conspicuously absent
almost everywhere. To the extent
that Eisenhower has drawn his sup
port from the younger elements witn-
IN the G.. o. p, this may have had a
bearing on the decision here.
It certainly had a bearing on the
decision as far as the local issues
were concerned. The Eisenhower
rebellion smacked strongly of a revolt
OF youth against age. With notable
exceptions, the Eisenhower candi-
dates were callow youngsters COM
pared to their opposition. In years
as well as in service, the State Com
mittee had clear edge. Through
out the three-month prediction
hassle, It's attitude was that of the
outraged parent, trying to deal with
an unruly offspring. In the end the