>5AA "I w4%rHA 5f &CV$~ F I HOCC 61CJOtiC OAW --$!R F £to8Urvc OE'A IR P! The monster from t By GORDON ATCHESON WASHINGTON - Demago- gues and rabid dogs have a lot in common - at a distance they are unnerving but up close they are just plain terrifying. Both snarl, howl, and at least figuratively foam at the mouth, But while the diseased dog is rightfully viewed as a danger to those around him, the dema- gogue all too often becames a hero and a symbol. Today, one such man com- mands a legion of follow3rs across the country and threat- ens to wield his power merci- lessly in the upcoming presiden- tial election. Born and raised in tiny, rural Clio, Alabama, George Waliace grew up in humble surround- ings - as he is fond of telling his listeners who probably come from the same kind of place - to become the only three-time governor of that state. Along the way, he has caught the fancy of millions of Amer- icans who feel left out and for- gotten by the big wheels in gov- ernment. The deep south segre- gationist, the white auto worker in Pontiac, and the small-time businessman have all heard the Wallace word, and many like its sound. THE 55-YEAR-OLD governor tells 'em that Washington is be- ing run by a bunch of 'ttstern. elites with high-falutin degrees from Ivy League scho ils and very little understanding of the seeds of the middle class. ' It's an emotional appal, stud- ded with homilies, anecdotes, and one-liners, but few concrete proposals or insightful thoughts. "The people from colleges come out carrying briefcases loaded with papers, and when The Michigan Daily Edited and managed by Students at the University of Michigan Wednesday, July 9, 1975 News Phone: 764-0552 P rks b ost fto c ter cityf CITY COUNCIL'S Monday night move to acquire three sections of land at Division and Liberty for city park should go a long way toward alleviating the severe lack of recreational facilities in the center city area. The Division property, along with a park planned for construction at the Summit Street location of the Lansky and Sons scrap metal, yard, will serve the needs heavily populated downtown and the northwest side areas, many of whose residents lack ready access to nearby parks and whose cramped homesites don't afford them a bare modicum recreational outlets, Over the years, the city leaders have maintained an attitude, whether expressed or not, that the center city area should be reserved for and designed to cater to the needs of business, and that the pursuit of leisurely inter- ests should be left to outlying areas. MONDAY'S ACTION indicates that Council is starting to realize that residents of Ann Arbor's congested and depressed areas-have just as pronounced a need for convenient open areas as do more affluent sections of the city. one of them becomes a bureau- crat the government has to create two more bureaucrats just to think up things for him to do," Wallace recently told a gathering of small businessmen here.- "Well, I would rake those briefcases and fil them up with peanut butter and jelly sand- wiches and throw them into the Potomac River and then I just might throw some of the bur- eaucrats in, too," ne says to a peal of laughter and applause. So goes the entire speecn. For IS minutes, Wallace takes pot- shots at Congress, the N e w York Times, and whomever e'se seems to be part of "the ultra- liberal intelligencia." USING STORIES he's told 100 times before, he charges t h e crowd with the emotional equi-. valent of static elect-icity; it seems to crackle from one side of the bunting-drapen auditor- ium to the other. The message is hammered home with piercing looks, a sneer that almost instantly changes into a grin, a pounding fist, and his voice, a rising, fal- ling southern accent drenched not in honey, but in acid. "I understand that when the Communists overran Saigon, Mrs. Gandhi over in India said she was glad to see South Viet- nam 'liberated'," Walace says, leading into another little ditty. "If I am president next year and she asks me for wheat to f-ed her starving peopte, I'll tell her to get it from the North Vietnamese," he declares trium- nhntly to a standing ovation. Throughot the spiel, Walace waves the Red flag, attacks he tax system - under which "we have to support the ultra-rich on the one hand and those who re- fse to work on the other," and the nermissive courts that have made American streets ultsafe by freeing criminals who shodd b- locked up. ' WALLACE in actin -cowjires "n images of Joe M1CCart' and Ffav Long playing on n-ople's fears and ignorance, its a des- ni~ahle, vet an effectiv. way to win converts, and, like the old- time oatent medicine asiesman, Wallace knows how ti s-ll his product. The governor could be dis- missed if his apeal were ot so widespread and his sigsta were not set so high. He's eysing the White House, which some pt i- tical insiders give him an out- ie deep south side chance of winning n e x t 1972 until he had to withdraa year. after a gunman's unsuccessfu Right now, the Democrats assassination attempt left bin have a pack of nobodies ecramb- paralyzed from the waist down ling for the party's nomination. IRONICALLY, Wallace's whee None of them has been able to chair has become one of his bes muster the kind of support ne- political assets. Following Ar cessary to get the nod, and that thur Bremer's attack, Wallac sps Wallace's political stock a developed an image as a fighter good bit. a scrapper, and a comeback kid Then again, many influential That, along with a good deal a Democrats have said they want sympathy, allowed hi-n to she no part of Alabama's sweetheart the racist tag he had previousl and that could be enough to de- worn. rail any Wallace hopes for the Of course, just about every presidential or vice presidential body still links Wallacs with se nomination. gregation, but the governor doe And a Ted Kennedy candidacy not talk about race anymore. would certainly do it. He has broadened his pitch an now hits economic injustice, di BUT WALLACE will probably creased defense spending, as go to the convention floor with other bread and butter issue a lot of delegates which trans- hard. fates into the bargaining chips But it remains an emotiona necessary to strike a deal with though substantively empty, sa someone for some'hing pretty vo aimed at people who are dit W l. el ct r- ,e r, d. Df -d ly Y- e- s id e- =d es il- s- "Wallace in action conjures up images of Joe McCarthy a n d Huey Long playing on people's fears and ig- norance. It's a despic- able, yet an effective, way to win converts, and like the old-time natent medicine sales- man, Wallace knows how to sell his pro- duct." significant. Likewise Wallace reportedly has no qualms abo:t runrint a third party campaign as he id in 1968. He very nearly became the king-maker then, when it appeared as if Nixon and Hum- phrey might deadlock placing the outcome in the hands of the Ho-se-of Representatives, where Wallace held the key votes. Another close contest c o u I d actually put him in that pivotal position. In both his earlier tries for the presidency, Wallace has done well. Seven years ago, he polled 10 million votes as the American Independent Party candidate. He was piling up impressive primary election vote, totals in couraged with the mess that sur- rounds them, and feel powerless to change those conditions. For them, Wallace offers a promise of something better. Still, the promise is built only of words. There art no blue- prints for turning in mt a real- ity. But his followers doart know that. If they do, thev don't -are. They stand and applaud the man anyway, and on sleclion day go out and vote for hin. That's what is most terrify ng. Gordon Atcheson ist h e Co-Editor in Chief of t h e Daily, and a summer intern with the Knight Newspap- ers Washington 3ureau.