Mock Convention Picks 'Ike' for GOP Nominee

General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Governor Earl Warren swept to impressive second ballot victories, easily routing all other presidential candidates at the Young Republican Mock Convention in New Lecture Hall last night.

The fervent keynote harangue of Dean C. David Foster (left), Baptist minister and Republican National Committeeman, set the convention at a high pitch which persisted through two hours of spirited speechmaking and balloting until Eisenhower's nomination shortly past 11 p.m. Foster was substituting for Indiana Representative Brownson, himself a replacment for the original choice, Governor Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin of Maryland.

Surprisingly McKeldin was a very popular candidate, polling 108 votes in the first presidential ballot and 44 in the second, and batting Warren right down the line in the vice-presidential contest.

No Ike-Taft Battle

The anticipated battle between Eisenhower and Senator Robert A. Taft never really developed. On the first ballot Ike polled 361 votes, Taft 328, Warren 90, General Douglas MacArthur 36, and Harold Stassen 30. An amazingly large crowd of 12 favorite son candidates, including Herbert Hoover, John Foster Dulles, Senator Wayne Morse, and Alf Landon rounded out the 1,200 delegate votes.

On the second ballot the contest turned into a runaway as almost all the favorite son delegations switched to Elsenhower like> climbed to 663, well over the 603 needed for election, while Taft could muster only 338.

Key delegation switches were those of Maryland (from McKeldin), New York (from Dulles), Pennsylvania (from Duff), and Oregon (from Morse). The Oregon switch came after a telegram from Morse that he wished his candidates to be gives to Eisenhower.

The most vital and dramatic switch of the evening came when California decided at the last moment to abandon Warren and throw 66 of their 70 votes to Elseenhower. This put like over the see mark and gave him the victory.

After this conclusion the vice presidential race was an anti-climax. With a victorious Eisenhower delegation backing Warren, the Governor piled up 617 votes, easily routing a vigorous but unorganized push for McKeldin