I am pleased to announce this morning that more than 100,000 californians have registered as members of the American Independent Party in order to give us assistance in gaining a place on the california ballot in next years general election. I want to thank the thousands of californians who have done so much to safety us. I point out these people are representative of millions of americans who are genuinely concerned about the current direction being followed by our national leadership. music walking in the sunshine music music sing a little sunshine song music music put a smile upon your face music music as if theres nothing wrong music music think about a good time music music had a long time ago music music think about forgetting about your worries music the wallace victory in california did not come easy. When George Wallace brought his southern Style Campaign to california, he baffled many by what seemed to be too much that did not relate directly to california. Southern traditions and National Issues have in the past appeared too much at opposite poles. Apparently wallace wasnt bothered that his down Home Campaign complete with gospel singing bewildered some people. It worked. National news magazines uniformly agreed that by obtaining enough signatures to get on the california primary wallace had proven more surely that he headed a Significant National political movement, which must be reckoned with. So while political observers tried to predict his next moves, wallace kept on moving, talking with people in all parts of california, gaining new strength and support every day. Here was a strong new leadership that excited and pulled at you. Here was a National Voice that californians and millions of americans could rally behind. Here was george c. Wallace, a new Political Force in america. Everything said about 48yearold George Corley wallace would fill volumes. One constant comment heard, however, whether it be pro or con, is that i admire his courage. Courage is certainly one basis of his appeal. But theres another part, too. Wallace is a southerner who has universal support and appeal that is not clearly obvious at first glance. He communicates. He talks in a language that people can understand. And few politicians can match his uncanny ability to grasp the real issues and concerns of the American People in any area. He is truly a man of the people. It is because of these talents that he caught political observers off balance in 1964 when he captured more than a quarter million votes in the wisconsin primary. Then 30 of the democratic preferential primary vote in indiana np indiana. And 43 of the primary vote in maryland. But if he is underestimated by some, its not because he sidesteps any issues. He gets right down to cases. Last year you voted on the matter of Home Ownership and property ownership, didnt you . But you voted wrong, according to the pseudo intellectuals on the court. They struck it down. And both National Parties are recommending a law today on the congressional level that would put you in jail without a trial by jury if you didnt want to sell or lease your property to someone. Thats been thought up by this intellectual crowd, pseudointellectual crowd who doesnt think youve got sense enough to know who you want to sell or lease your own property to. Another thing theyre going to have to be strong about and which people are concerned over this nation is the threat to the internal security of our country by the breakdown of law and order. And its a sad commentary when you cannot walk on the streets or in the parks in the large cities of our country. And if you go out of this building tonight and somebody knocks you in the head, the person who knocks you in the head is out of jail before you get to the hospital, and on monday morning they will try the policeman. They wont try the person that knocked you in the head. Were going to have to start trying criminals on monday instead of the policeman in los angeles or the policeman anywhere in the country. [applause] and the Supreme Court of our country has handcuffed the police. They have rendered decisions today that are absolutely ludicrous and asinine. Turn people loose every day who are selfproven and confessed murderers of five or more people. You read about it. Youve seen it. And when they turn somebody loose whos a selfproven murderer, five or more people, some pseudointellectual tells us that really hes not to blame. Societys to blame. Because his papa didnt take him to see the Los Angeles Rams play when he was a little boy. And hes mad. And recently we had a case that arose in our state that just culminated in a decision in the Supreme Court thats going to destroy every Neighborhood School in california next year. They already started destroying them this last year in detroit, chicago, and in new york and in washington they ruled that youve got to transport little children across state lines. Now this decision arising from a case in alabama is going to take your children and transport them across torrance to the other side of the city and across the Los Angeles County and the other counties. Now, if you folks in california want to do that, if you want to put your children on a bus every day and send them all the way to Northern California to school and back that night, it is all right with the folks of alabama. You do just that. You do whatever you want to do. But you decide to do it yourself. Dont let somebody 3,000 miles away sit down and write every guideline for the education of your child. Thats all were talking about. And we had a case last year in alabama and we have freedom of choice in our state in which you can choose to go to any school you wanted to regardless of your race. But last year the Justice Department filed a suit and said not enough people on this side of torrance chose to go to school on this side and not enough people on this side chose to go to this side of town. Not enough people in northern alabama chose to go across town to school and vice versa. And we said to the Justice Department, but they could have chosen if they wanted to. What are we going to do about it . Make them go . And their answer was thats your problem, you work it out. Thats your problem. And if you dont work it out were going to take the money away from you, which is your money, federal funds they call it. Not any such thing as federal funds. Theyre taxpayersfunds. Im tired of saying the state of alabama gives you some money. You gave the state of alabama money. You gave the state of california money. You give the government in washington money. And then when they send back to you they say were going to tell you how you can spend, it were going to control every Domestic Institution that youve got and were going to send foreign aid without any strings attached. Were going to attach a lot of strings to the money you paid into the treasury when you get it back. Well, in that decision they wrote that we could keep freedom of choice if it worked. And they said if it works these people have got to choose to go over here and vice versa. And if they dont choose well choose for them, you have to assign them yourselves and make them go. The point were trying to raise is you ought to run schools and run them any way you want to. Now theres another matter that faces our people that everybodys talked about and there are no Simple Solutions to. And thats our involvement in Southeast Asia. And we could talk all night here in this auditorium about the matter of the 17th parallel and old French Indochina and the geneva accord. But suffice it to say we are in vietnam, whether you think we ought to be there or not. And 500,000 american servicemen are totally committed at this moment between life and death. And some of them are being killed at this very moment. In fact, i just left a motel where the daughter of the motel owner came by to shake my hand and eight months ago her husband was killed in vietnam and she had two children and theyd been killed on this night. And one of the first things that we ought to do is reappraise our attitude toward western europe and our attitude toward some of our noncommunist asian nations. And by the way, they are doing so much better than are some of those in western europe. But western europe was rehabilitated after world war ii by the money of the people of california and alabama, including those nations that we fought. And im glad that we do have a stable rehabilitated europe insofar as our economy is concerned. Because that has been a barrier to further communist encroachment in that part of the world. Even though we sold out the Eastern European nations at yalta we still have a strong viable western europe. And they need us and we need them. And im not talking about kicking our allies out. Im just talking about having some eyeball to eyeball talk with them above the table and make them respect us more and tell them that its as much your interest to be in Southeast Asia as it is for us and if you dont go and help us and you dont stop trading those of you who do with the north vietnamese, our enemies, were going to cut foreign aid off and ask you to pay back that which youve gotten in the past because the average man [applause] the average man in our country doesnt understand the paying of his money continuously to nations who not only wont help us but even trade with the north vietnamese. And we have defended europe twice. And mr. Du gaul in europe wants to devalue our dollar by taking gold out which would devalue the system of money in the free world. And its been devalued enough because of inflationary processes in our country and we know what happened to the pound over in england. Because of socialistic overspending. Money that brought no return to the english people. And weve got to get our house in order or were going to face that same problem here in these united states. And we ought to tell mr. Dugalle youre not going to impair the dollar concerted by a concerted effort youre making by taking gold out of our country and if you continue to impair the dollar when you dont have to were going to put back on the books some of those billions of dollars that you owe us after world war 1 and world war ii and were going to ask you to pay it back because they owe us billions of dollars. And i think thats a common sense approach. [applause] music music thank you very much. Wallaces victorious California Campaign was unique. Nothing like it had ever been accomplished before. Even though countless groups and interests had tried to gain ballot position and found it impossible. And because it had never been accomplished, unorthodox methods had to be used. For example, small groups of alabama volunteers commuting to and from california direct and encouraged volunteers. The Wallace Campaign started small and grew. More than enough signatures were obtained obtained. This was brought about by the unusual nature of california politics. Infighting, while common to all Political Parties in all states, is rampant in sunny california. Two california politicians, one a republican and one a democrat, simultaneously described each others Party Members as 2 million chiefs in search of indians. There were two primary objectives to the campaign. To let californians know what governor wallace stood for. This by radio, television, and newspapers. And secondly, getting voters to sign registration blanks to change their Party Affiliation. This unique part of the law, making third parties get a certain number of votes to reregister, is a political fact of life because california has closed primaries. This means that in order to vote in a Party Primary you can do so only in that party in which you register as a member. Changing your mind means changing your party. And in the Wallace Campaign it all had to be done in less than a twomonth period. This objective has been the target of special legislation throughout the history of california politics. Here dr. David g. Fayrali, a ph. D. Teaching Political Science at the university of california at los angeles, comments on the extreme difficulties of getting on the california ballot in the first place and the special road blocks encountered by the Wallace Campaign because of time and circumstance. 6 Million People voted for a governor. Getting 66,000 people to sign up for a new party is a difficult task. Its up to the legislature of the state to determine the minimum size of the party. And i guess it could be argued that californias laws make it very difficult to have a third party going. November and december are not the most politically active months. People are thinking of christmas, thanksgiving and so on. This is one obstacle. Secondly is the strong tradition of a twoparty system that we have in the united states. And this is true also in california. Third certainly youre trying to get people to change their registration from republican and democratic to a third party. So there are many obstacles that are faced by thirdparty candidates in california. Facing these problems, the Wallace Campaigners decided the only way to get voters to sign registration blanks was to have the whole problem of doing so explained to them quickly and honestly by the only means. Individually. Say hello to governor george c. Wallace. If youd like to shake hands and chat with him you can do so. We have registrars that will register you in one minute. Put him on a ballot here in california. California law in effect in 1968 states that 66,059 voters must reregister to qualify a candidate on a primary ballot. When the campaign kicked off, Many Political experts said wallace didnt have the appeal. But as weeks passed and the crowds grew and enthusiasm was obvious, these same experts began reversing their earlier predictions. The campaign kept moving. It was propelled along by the indomitable wallace spirit. And because of the very unique Solutions Found to the many complex problems by the small but effective Wallace Campaign staff. Money is important to any campaign. But to get money you first must get people willing to give and believe in what theyre giving too. The wallace California Campaign started in a political offseason. The 1968 president ial race is far off in the minds of voters. Timing is impossible to manipulate. Then, approaching the january deadline, one of the coldest winter blasts in history hits sunny california. As if unseasonal weather werent enough there were the physical problems of working in california itself. Home base. From somewhere to anywhere takes a half hour to an hour and a half, depending on the freeways. Then the Wallace Campaign staff faced the problems of political tradition. Swaying voters away from a longtime Party Affiliation and doing it with a skeleton staff. It was a maze of problems where one problem triggers four. Bad weather, no people. No people, no registrations. Then no new followers and no donations. The net total of one valuable day lost. But these are the risks inherent to the very nature of politics. Politics itself is a serious strategic contest. The born politician relishes both the risks and the strategy. Wallace and his staff have weathered both success and failure. Every politician has. But what makes it appealing are the convictions and the high stakes. People rarely get to see the other side of George Wallace. George wallace the man. When i met my wife right after shed finished high school when she was only 16 years of age, well, she was very pretty for one thing. And of course i didnt realize how young she was, then as i do now, after ive acquired the age that i am. But she was very pretty and just some little twist, a spark about her that you know, its hard to explain. Its just like any man who meets his wife for the first time. Theres something about her. She helped me to get my start in political life, politic for me when i was running for the legislature and she was too young to vote for me. She didnt even get to vote for me when i was elected to the legislature in 1946. Well, of course in Public Service that is holding legislative office and the executive office of the state of alabama that i held for four years, you are in a position to do things that you thought ought to have been done or should be done for the people of your state. But i also like to see go down to the county seat in clayton and also to the little town that i was born, raised in and finished high school, cloud, alabama. And see friends and to reminisce. And i do occasionally go to the county courthouse, clayton, alabama, and sit around as is the custom in the rural south. I enjoy this immensely, and its very stimulating and a rich, warm experience to go back to the country with your hometown friends. And i like people and large or small crowds suit me, and i enjoy being with people. While the Wallace Campaign gathers its momentum, the great majority of support is near home base. Southern california with near 60 of the states total population. The los angeles greater metropolitan area is the home of 7 million persons and provides the greatest number of registrations. It is according to Wallace Campaign staff the one thing worki