Backfire in Wisconsin

The moment Alexander Wiley heard some of his weird Wisconsin Republican colleagues let loose, he had good reason to guess that he was licked. The state G.O.P. convention, meeting in Milwaukee last week to choose its candidate for the U.S. Senate primary in September, cheered attacks on "Uncle Sap's" foreign-aid program, then passed resolutions praising the Bricker amendment and the McCarran-Walter Immigration Act. As everybody knew, Alex Wiley had been consistently faithful to the Administration's foreign policy as ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had voted against the Bricker amendment, and had even been conveniently absent from the Senate when his fellow Wisconsinite Joe McCarthy came up for a censure vote in 1954.

When the voting started, Wiley barely led the field of six on jthe first ballot. By the second, he had fallen behind Representative Glenn R. Davis, 41, a toothpaste-smile isolationist, who had been sweet-talked into running and promised a $150,000 campaign fund. When the third ballot started, Wiley did not even wait for the result. With tears in his eyes, he and his British-born wife made their way quietly through the crowd and out the door. For Alex Wiley, it was a bitter pill --administered on his 72nd birthday.

Once outside the convention hall, however, Wiley was as bouncy as ever, announced that he certainly intends to run even without the endorsement. "I feel relieved," said he. "Now the people can speak." Chances are still good that the people will speak for Wiley, especially since Democrats can cross over in the Wisconsin primary. What is more, the hardshell G.O.P. element may get another boomerang black eye. Candidate Davis must give up his House seat to run against Wiley, and the Democrats are conniving to grab it.

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