Son of Mr. Republican

In normally Republican Ohio, some abnormal things are happening. When physicians drove up to a meeting of the Butler County Medical Society, an astonishing number of their cars bore L.B.J. bumper stickers. Yet, at the same time many of those same cars carried a second sticker with another name on it: TAFT.

Embraceable? The extent of the Republican defection to Johnson in Ohio --in one county, a Republican official estimates it at 20%--is surprising. But the fact that many of these same people plan to split their ballots and vote for Republican Robert Taft Jr. for the U.S. Senate is not. The Taft name obviously packs a potent political punch in the state that sent Bob Jr.'s grandfather, William Howard Taft, to the presidency and established his father in the Senate as the nation's "Mr. Republican." But beyond that, "young" Bob, in his cool, deliberate manner, has carefully cultivated a reputation of his own as a constructive legislator in the Ohio house of representatives and as a one-term member of Congress. Many Republicans see Taft, 47, as one of the party's most likely new national leaders.

Taft is trying to unseat Democratic Senator Stephen Young, 75, who startled Ohio back in 1958 when he managed to upset Republican Senator John Bricker. Most political observers figured in the past that Taft was a cinch to clobber Young. But as of last week, the Taft-Young race was surprisingly tight. Taft's big worry is not Steve Young but Barry Goldwater. who could lose Ohio by such a whopping margin that he might drag Taft down to defeat too.

Aware of that possibility, Taft is trying to remain true to his own conservative principles, yet taking equal pains not to embrace Barry too boldly. "I agree with him on most of the important issues," Taft tells his audiences. But then he makes clear that this certainly does not include Goldwater's negative stands on the civil rights bill, test-ban treaty and general federal aid to education. He has agreed to campaign with Goldwater in the most Republican areas of the state, but Taft plans to slip quietly away from Barry in those regions where he hopes to pick up non-G.O.P. votes.

At the Fair. Steve Young, noted for his dyspeptic letters to constituents,* is aware that his only hope for survival lies in trying to tag Taft as one of Barry's boys. "Goldwaterism, Taft Juniorism and extremism are all the same commodity," he charges. "I am against Birch, Barry and Bob." While that kind of pitch may prove effective, Young also bears a heavy handicap: many Ohio voters fail even to recognize him when he meets them in the street. Taft, on the other hand, is forever being introduced as "Senator Taft" before he makes it on his own.

While Taft still is favored to win, he is running scared--hitting as many as three county fairs in a single day to stay ahead. In the end, he may well stand or fall on how many Johnson voters will take the trouble to split their tickets.

*Sample: "Dear Sir--You should know that some crackpot is writing me letters and signing your name."

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