Taking On George

More than a year before the Democratic National Convention, six men have put themselves in the party's presidential race--and four have Southern drawls. The latest to enter is Terry Sanford, 57, the Duke University president and liberal former North Carolina Governor, who last week set as his goal the stopping of the man whom all liberal and moderate Democrats most fear: George Wallace. Indeed, Sanford is one of those increasingly vocal Southerners who believe that their region has much more, and better, to offer than Wallace's demagogic appeal and implicit racism. As Sanford put it, "I came up at the same time in similar circumstances, and it is my responsibility to challenge him."

Roughly the same argument is made by other Southerners in the race: Georgia's Jimmy Carter, Texas' Lloyd Bentsen and Oklahoma's Fred Harris. So many more Democrats are on the verge of entering that the field will soon be as crowded as a cotillion, and all will be watching how well the Southerners do against the cocky, crowd-pleasing Governor from Alabama.

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