1968 was very close. If just California (which was within a percentage point) had gone for Humphrey instead of Nixon, he would have broken 270 electoral votes and become President, avoiding the whole Corrupt Bargain between Wallace and Nixon altogether.
I know this has been discussed many times before, with the assumption being that the United States, as unstable as it was, would have still been as polarized as it became under Nixon thanks to the War in Vietnam and the huge issue of Civil Rights. But what I'm looking for is this: How would the Southern States in particular have reacted to Humphrey, a Liberal, non-Southerner, like McGovern 8 years later, becoming President?
Would he have been tolerated as an essential continuation of LBJ's policies, or would any move he made be met with resistance and force, like many Southern historians seem to suggest? And would they be more apt to trust the White House without 6/11?
I'm working on a TL that has an intact and dominant United States of America lasting up until the present day, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
OOC: I've mentioned several potential PoDs and Butterflies, but that doesn't mean their alone. Remember that just because I specified 1968, that DOES NOT mean that has to be where the PoD lies.