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The Survival Course. Chances are that Sparkman will come up against Governor Wallace in the Democratic primary next year.* If he does, he figures to have about as much chance in Alabama as Bobby Kennedy. Even if Wallace doesn't run, he will certainly back one of his henchmen against Sparkman, in which case the incumbent would stand no more than an even chance. And if John Sparkman survives that test, he will still have to face a Republican in November in a state with a resurgent G.O.P. In 1962 popular Lister Hill won by only 6,800 votes against Republican James Martin. And Martin, since elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, is ready to run against Sparkman next year.
* Wallace has a little hurdle in his way. Alabama's constitution prohibits a Governor from being appointed or elected to the Senate until a year after his gubernatorial term of office has expired. Wallace's expires in January 1967. But he has a bill in the state legislature to amend all that.