Taft would have won easily.
Three words — Taft Hartley Act. Taft wouldn’t have won easily, if at all. Ike’s Electoral vote totals were close to those of FDR’s (472, 523, 449, 432). Taft was nearly beaten in his Senate reelection campaign in 1944. By 1952 he was suspected by fellow conservative Republicans of being soft on socialism, which is ironic, because turncoat Democrat and “me-too” politician Willkie had beaten Taft in the 1940 race to the Republican nomination. Had Taft won the nod in 1952, and then won election, his Vice President would have been President by end of 1953, when Taft died.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Taft#Distrust_by_Old_Right