alternatehistory.com

Much to my chagrin, there exists no known timeline of George Wallace in 1972; not winning the nomination, let alone winning the election. However, it is one of the most fascinating scenarios of the 1972 election. Wallace had very strong momentum in the primaries until he was shot. He appealed to working class voters, and had distanced himself from his segregationist past, claiming to always have been a moderate on the issue and only against big government federal interference. The uncomfortable fact about American politics is that was good enough for a lot of voters. That all came to a halt in May of 1972. Wallace was nearly assassinated and crippled. He won the Maryland and Michigan primaries afterward, but his campaign disintegrated.

For ease, here's the wikipedia quote:

Alabama governor George Wallace, with his "outsider" image, did well in the South (he won every single county in the Florida primary) and among alienated and dissatisfied voters. What might have become a forceful campaign was cut short when Wallace was shot while campaigning, and left paralyzed in an assassination attempt by Arthur Bremer. Wallace did win the Maryland primary and the Michigan primary both held the following day (Tues. May 16), but his near assassination effectively ended his campaign.
What if George Wallace had not been shot? Some may argue it was an impossibility for him to win the nomination, but I'm not so sure. He had the South, and was making inroads with traditional, blue collar voters in the North who would never vote for George McGovern. In the wake of the McGovern–Fraser Commission reforms, the winner of the primaries was the winner of the nomination. If George Wallace can win the primaries, George Wallace could become the nominee. The contest against Richard Nixon in the general election is another matter. However, Wallace would threaten to take away the working class and the South, which were the two elements Nixon relied upon. McGovern was no threat in that regard. Wallace most certainly would be.
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