On landing in California, President Eisenhower found himself in a state where Republicans are likely to win this fallbut not impressively. Republican Governor Goodwin Knight was running well ahead of ex-Republican Richard Graves (now a Democrat), while Warrenite Senator Thomas Kuchel had a smaller lead over Democrat Sam Yorty. But the real danger for the G.O.P. lay in the House races. Republicans now hold 19 of the state's 30 seats; they might easily lose two or three.
What was wrong with California Republicanism? For one thing, there was a voter tendency to distinguish between Dwight Eisenhower (still tremendously popular) and...
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