The POD is that Taft beats Eisenhower at the Republican 1952 convention (which is reasonable) and then heads into the general election.
The interesting thing is that Taft is basically a proto-Goldwater—the "real" Republican in the race as opposed to that sell-out Eisenhower.
It won't be an LBJ-Goldwater landslide, but I'd wager that Stevenson can beat Taft (although Korea should make it iffy) but what then happens both in politics and to the Republican Party?
Eisenhower steered a middle course I could see Stevenson following but the two big issues are civil rights (where Eisenhower declined to get involved as long as possible) and of course the Suez Canal where Eisenhower partially took the course he did to help with his re-election campaign.
On minor issues there remains Viet Nam (whether to get involved or just pull out completely, though as OTL showed this can be postponed for over a decade more), the volunteer army Stevenson considered, and whether Stevenson might push a little more on stuff like health care.
In general: what will the Stevenson administration do?
What goes on with the Republican Party? Is it an early Goldwater type thing where the next candidates, or couple of candidates (Nixon, Ford) are moderates but eventually the Reagan role is performed by somebody (Goldwater, Knowland, somebody like that)?
Does losing as a conservative strengthen the moderate Eastern wing for longer? Rockefeller in '60? Against? Kennedy? Kefauver?
The interesting thing is that Taft is basically a proto-Goldwater—the "real" Republican in the race as opposed to that sell-out Eisenhower.
It won't be an LBJ-Goldwater landslide, but I'd wager that Stevenson can beat Taft (although Korea should make it iffy) but what then happens both in politics and to the Republican Party?
Eisenhower steered a middle course I could see Stevenson following but the two big issues are civil rights (where Eisenhower declined to get involved as long as possible) and of course the Suez Canal where Eisenhower partially took the course he did to help with his re-election campaign.
On minor issues there remains Viet Nam (whether to get involved or just pull out completely, though as OTL showed this can be postponed for over a decade more), the volunteer army Stevenson considered, and whether Stevenson might push a little more on stuff like health care.
In general: what will the Stevenson administration do?
What goes on with the Republican Party? Is it an early Goldwater type thing where the next candidates, or couple of candidates (Nixon, Ford) are moderates but eventually the Reagan role is performed by somebody (Goldwater, Knowland, somebody like that)?
Does losing as a conservative strengthen the moderate Eastern wing for longer? Rockefeller in '60? Against? Kennedy? Kefauver?