ABSTRACT
George Wallace was conscious of being the son of a dirt farmer from Alabama—he mentioned his origins himself later, with a trace of deprecation and challenge. Wallace was not a hero here. The young lawyers who sat at a front table estimated that "maybe half" of those present might vote for Wallace. Wallace had the manner of a man saying forbidden things, opening up people's eyes to injustices and lies and principalities and powers they already knew were plaguing them but didn't talk about. Wallace tells how he was invited on one of those "talk shows" in Portland, Oregon, and his interviewers questioned his facts. The three hundred Wallace supporters, sitting calmly in their chairs, as orderly as church people, listened in amazement as Muskie called Wallace a "demagogue who appeals to the worst in people". Election eve, the Wallace faithful begin arriving slowly at the Park Plaza.
