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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO the politics of the new South ?In 1070, a group.of previously unknown moderates were elected governors of southern slates, many of them beating segregationists. They included Jimmy Carter in Georgia, Reubin Askew in Florida, Dale Bumpers in Arkansas and John C. West in South Carolina.Then, in 1971 and early 1972, William L. Waller of Mississippi and Edwin Edwards of Eouis-iana, both considered moderates, also won.The new faces,” as they came to be called, an id that race was dead as an issue, that the South was tired of it. Their region, they said, was ready to resume its rightful place in tile affairs o[ the nation, including the Democratic Party.Now much of the South (along with some parts of the North) is in an uproar about involuntary busing of schoolchildren. Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama, an old face, is ahead in the Florida primary campaign and, according to a poll taken by one of his rivals is also leading in Tennessee, which holds its primary on May 4.Most of the southern governors, unlike their colleagues elsewhere, are shying away from commitments 1o presidential candidates, even though the first primaries are imminent. Their reluctance to move was evident in their comments this week at the National Governors Conference winter meeting in Washington.West of South Carolina is leaning toward Son. Edmund S. Muskie of Maine and permitted some of his close associates to join the state Muskie committee announced last week. But few of his colleagues have gone that far. Many still talk privately about assembling a bloc of votes behind Rep. Wilbur D. Mills of Arkansas — a tech-R. IF. Apple Jr.nique designed to win regional concessions that failed when the late Richard B. Russell tried it in 1952 and appears likely to fail this year.That Bumpers is supporting Mills is not surprising, since he is the governor of Mills’s home state. That others should still talk about the idea is a moasureof the survival of the old.Even Gov. Robert W. Scott of North Carolina, who endorsed Muskie early, lias confessed to some second thoughts.Clearly, the picture of change was seriously overdrawn.Carter, for one, was never considered as much a harbinger of liberalism at home as he was in the North. He won nomination by running to the right, not the. left, of former Gov. Carl Sanders. As much.as a year ago, he was urging fellow governors in closed sessions to make gestures to Wallace .and to support J. Edgar Hoover.More recently, he has clashed with Lawrence F. O’Brien, (he Democratic chairman, over the latter’s criticism of the Alabama governor. And he has put together an uncommitted slale of national convention delegates for Georgia's caucuses.Carter’s- allies say that the uncommitted maneuver, a violation of the spirit though not the letter of the Democratic reforms, was necessary to block Wallace. His critics see it as an index of backsliding.But most observers think it goes beyond individuals. The old racial antagonisms remain, it now appears, watting for a man like Wallace to fjnd a means to arouse them. Busing provided him with that means, though,'as Bumper notes, many people oppose busing who should not be considered racisls.With Walla.ce in full cry against busing, St is hard for more moderate candidates to catch the public ear..As he said at a luncheon meeting with Washington correspondents this \veekT Florida’s Gov. Askew had the busing situation under control in Florida four months ago. Now he not only has Wallace leading in the primary but he must contend with a referendum on busing.Askew has begun a bold campaign against, the proposal for. an anti-busing constilulional amendment, in person and on television.But even though Jiis own approval rating In one recent poll is 8t per cent favorable to 9 per cent unfavorable, with 10 per cent undecided — a phenomenal showing — Askew does not feel he can take on Wallace directly, or even indirectly by endorsing another candidate.“I might help Wallace,” he said. It might turn cut to be counterproductive.”Askew’s judgment, which only a few Florida politicians qucslion, is a measure of the depth of the long-harbored resentment that Wallace lias topped. Unless things change drastically before-(he March 14 balloting. Askew will go to die Miami Beach convention as host governor and keynoter with a delegation liberally sprinkled with Wallace supporters.That will not be much of a symbol of (he new ►South.(C) Wfl Tht New York Timej News Scrv/c*
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Independent
Pasadena, California, US
Wed, Mar 01, 1972
Page 8
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USA 20 May 2024
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