Let’s talk the REAL South
Wallace ran on segregation and cleaned up in the traditional southern states
You still refuse to face facts and just admit you blundered. Again, of the five Southern states that Wallace won, he won two of them by less than 50% and one of them by less than 40%. He lost eight of the 13 Southern states.
Texas was certainly part of the "REAL South," and Humphrey won it. South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Florida were certainly part of the "REAL South," all of them being former Confederate states, and Nixon won all of them, even though he backed the 1957 and 1964 civil rights bills. So your narrative that the South backed Wallace in 1968 is simply false.
The only Nixon states that one could weakly, lamely argue were not part of the "REAL South" were Oklahoma and Kentucky, only because Kentucky narrowly avoided joining the Confederacy and Oklahoma was not yet a state when the Civil War began. But Kentucky was a slave state and provided tens of thousands of soldiers to the Confederate army. Kentucky was also a staunch supporter and practitioner of segregation. And, Oklahoma was--and still is--solidly Southern in its culture and politics. Oklahoma adopted Jim Crow laws as soon as it gained statehood in 1907 and was one of the most segregated states in the South. Yet, Nixon won both states even though he had backed the 1957 and 1964 Civil Rights bills.
And, no, Wallace did not "run on segregation" in 1968. You don't know what you're talking about, again. He ran mainly on restoring law and order, winning the Vietnam war, cutting taxes, reforming welfare, and restraining the federal government. Here's a segment from his major policy speech at Madison Square Garden in October 1968:
Our system is under attack: the property system, the free enterprise system, and local government. Anarchy prevails today in the streets of the large cities of our country, making it unsafe for you to even go to a political rally here in Madison Square Garden, and that is a sad commentary. Both national parties in the last number of years have kowtowed to every anarchist that has roamed the streets. I want to say before I start on this any longer, that I’m not talking about race. The overwhelming majority of all races in this country are against this breakdown of law and order as much as those who are assembled here tonight. It’s a few anarchists, a few activists, a few militants, a few revolutionaries, and a few Communists. But your day, of course is going to be over soon. The American people are not going to stand by and see the security of our nation imperiled, and they’re not going to stand by and see this nation destroyed, I can assure you that. . . .
You had better be thankful for the police and the firemen of this country. If it were not for them, you couldn’t even ride in the streets, much less walk in the streets, of our large cities. Yes, the Kerner Commission Report, recently written by Republicans and Democrats, said that you are to blame for the breakdown of law and order, and that the police are to blame. Well, you know, of course, you aren’t to blame. They said we have a sick society. Well, we don’t have any sick society. We have a sick Supreme Court and some sick politicians in Washington, – that’s who’s sick in our country. The Supreme Court of our country has ruled that you cannot even say a simple prayer in a public school, but you can send obscene literature though the mail, and recently they ruled that a Communist can work in a defense plant. But when I become your president, we’re going to take every Communist out of every defense plant in the United States, I can assure you. . . .
We are in Vietnam whether you like it or not. I sincerely hope and pray that the conflict is soon over, but we should have learned one thing about our involvement in Southeast Asia—the same thing that Mr. Humphrey now says in his speeches: we should not march alone. I said last year in California that we should never have gone to Vietnam—by ourselves. We should have looked our allies in the face in Western Europe and our non-Communist Asian Allies and said to them: it is as much your interest as it is ours and you are going to go with manpower, munitions, and money, and if you don’t go and help us in Southeast Asia, and if you don’t stop trading with the North Vietnamese who are killing American servicemen, we are not only going to cut off every dime of foreign aid you’re getting, but we’re going to ask you to pay back all you owe us from World War I right on this very day.
I sincerely hope and pray that we have a successful negotiated peace. Well, I’ll drown them out, come on. I sincerely hope and pray that we have an honorably negotiated peace to arise out of the Paris peace talks. I know that you pray that, and that the American servicemen can come home. But if we fail diplomatically and politically in Southeast Asia, we’re not going to stay there forever, we’re not going to see hundreds of American servicemen killed every week for years and months to come. If we do not win diplomatically and politically in Paris, that is, by honorable conclusion of the war, then in my judgment, we ought to end it militarily with conventional weapons and bring the American servicemen home. If we cannot settle it diplomatically and politically, and could not win it militarily with conventional weapons, then I wonder why we’re there in the first place? We’re going to conclude this way one way or the other either through honorable negotiations or conventional military power. (Speech at Madison Square Garden)
He didn't say one word about segregation. Or, go read Wallace's official platform, i.e., the platform of his party, the American Independent Party, over which he exercised firm control: It says nothing about maintaining segregation. Here are the 11 main policy goals that the platform presented and that Wallace ran on:
1. Peace abroad and domestic tranquility at home.
2. An enlightened and advancing educational program, assisted but not controlled by the federal government.
3. Job training and opportunity for all Americans willing and able to seek and hold gainful employment.
4. An alliance and partnership with the private sector of our economy seeking an end to poverty among our people.
5. Efficiency and prudence in governmental spending leading to a helpful and stable economy free from the need for ever continuing taxation.
6. Inclusion of the farmer in our program of prosperity through his own efforts rather than total reliance on government subsidy.
7. Reestablishment of the authority and responsibility of local government by returning to the states, counties and cities those matters properly falling within their jurisdiction and responsibility.
8. Ending the inflationary spiral of the past decade through fiscal responsibility and efficiency in all echelons of government.
9. The orderly and economical utilization of the natural resources of this nation coupled with a sensible program of conservation of these resources.
10. An insistence that the laboring man and woman be given his fair share of responsibility and reward for the development of the mighty potential of this nation.
11. A re-dedication of this country to the love of God and country and the creation of a judiciary mindful of the attitudes of the people in this regard. (
American Independent Party Platform of 1968 | The American Presidency Project)
