Nation: THE SHAPE OF THE VOTE

THE 1968 presidential race," Pollster George Gallup declared last month, "may go into the record books as the one that shattered more traditional voting patterns than any other election of this century."

For months, dissidents of the pro-Wal-lace right and antiwar left threatened to fragment the nation's two-party alignment. The Alabamian, it was feared, would sunder the New Deal coalition of labor, Negroes and ethnic minorities by luring away hundreds of thousands of blue-collar workers; disaffected Dem-ocrats—and most Negroes—would sit out the election in disgust or apathy. Richard Nixon predicted confidently that a...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!