THE PRIMARIES: The Stay-at-Homes

On primary day in Nebraska last week, both farmers and city folk stayed home in near record numbers. Only 165,000 of 800,000 eligible voters went to the polls, the state's smallest turnout in a peacetime presidential primary since 1912. Running unopposed on the Republican ballot, President Eisenhower drew almost twice as many votes as Estes Kefauver, the lone Democratic entrant. In farm areas Ike took 69% of the total primary vote; in Douglas County (Omaha) he pulled 59%. Both percentages were virtually identical with his margins over Adlai Stevenson in 1952.

Since all of Nebraska's rural voters may cross party lines in primaries (only the residents of cities with more than 7,000 population are registered according to party affiliation), they had a full opportunity to storm into the Democratic primary and register a protest against the Administration's farm program. The fact that they did not do so was another indication that there is no major political revolt in the farm belt.