When George Wallace appeared in Washington for the National Governors Conference a year ago, he stayed flat on his back most of the time, staring despondently at the ceiling, receiving few people. His political career seemed as shattered as his spine from the bullets of Arthur Bremer. This month Wallace once again attended the annual Governors Conference, but he was a rejuvenated man: he sat upright in his wheelchair, attentively following the proceedings and obviously basking in his celebrity status. His career has recovered along with his body and spirit.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Robert Strauss dropped by to pay his respects, and reporters flocked to Wallace's side. "Back in 1965, I'd have had to streak up and down the avenue to get this much attention," said Wallace. "I'd have had to streak through the House of Representatives."
Rid of the Kooks. Streaking, in a sense, is just what the Alabama Governor is doing. Despite mild disclaimers, he is running hard for a place on the Democratic national ticket in 1976. For the first time he is given a fair chance—if not for the No. 1 spot, then as the vice-presidential candidate. Though he cannot walk unaided and tires fast, Wallace has staged a remarkable comeback. He trails only Senator Edward Kennedy in Democratic Party presidential polls for 1976. Watergate, meanwhile, has alienated many conservatives from the Republican Party, and they may well turn to Wallace as an alternative.
Inevitably, perhaps, Wallace has been moving toward the middle of the road, seemingly giving up his militant segregationism and many of his longtime redneck associates. "We are glad to be rid of the kooks," says a close Wallace aide. "We were never comfortable with that crowd. We may have been segregationists at one time, but we weren't crazy. They didn't fit well at all with the Governor's new image." The ordeal of his paralysis seems to have mellowed Wallace, now 54. He does not even bear a grudge against his would-be assassin. "I hope he's a new man now," says Wallace. "I've forgiven him."
Today the Governor goes out of his way to court the rising black vote in Alabama. Last November, after stopping off to crown the black homecoming queen at the University of Alabama, Wallace received a standing ovation at the Southern Conference of Black Mayors in Tuskegee. Charles Evers, mayor of Fayette, Miss., has said that he might vote for Wallace for Vice President if he ran with Ted Kennedy.