dan carter, biographer of "george wallace -- the politics of rage." dr.arter, you describe george wallace as the most influential loser of the 20th-century. what do you mean by that? >> in the 20th century with the rise of conservativism, and i cannot think of anyone more than influential, not so much in creating ideas, but in showing there was a tremendous amount of support in the country for what was at that time the new conservatism that ultimately evolved. >> what is the new conservatism? >> it metamorphized over the years, but in the early stages it was very closely went with the activism of the federal government and, particularly, the flashpoint of the civil rights movement. that is where george wallace got his start, but it was something that was far broader than simply what was happening in the south. >> george wallace was first elected governor of alabama in 1962. where did he come from? >> barbour county, one of the most politically active counties and areas of alabama. as somebody said, there was not much to do except get involved in politics,

for we are all the handiwork of god. >> dan carter, that was from the same speech as "segregation now, segregation tomorrow." was he moderating its position? what was he doing? >> he made a few changes from the original. that does not sound like asa carter. that sounds more like george wallace. it is an attempt to take a little bit of the edge of the harshness of the speech itself. it is an interesting part of that speech. it only has one line there. it becomes a constant motif, and that is the reference to communism. we do not think about that so much today in terms of anything except the cold war, spies. but for white southerners and many americans around the country, the civil rights movement was the handiwork of communists. it is hard to remember how frightened americans were and how much they believed the communist infiltration had taken place. civil rights seem to be a place they would operate. it was a useful weapon against the movement to emphasize that. >> george wallace's running mate in 1968 was air force general, curtis lemay. our next call comes from harry in oakland, mar