A Choice of Wallaces

[Landslide Lyndon]

Both had their (obvious) pros and cons.

Henry was progressive, but dangerously oblivious to the fact that his staff was infested with Soviet spies. And all this guru stuff was certainly embarassing.

George was apparently a competent governor and charismatic politician, but...
On the other hand, he veered to the right after his 1958 primary defeat. He was considered quite liberal until then and was endorsed by NAACP.

I'd say that my conscience wouldn't let me anywhere near a ballot with G. Wallace's name on it.
But if I somehow managed to supress my conscience and judged these men strictly by who would be a better executive, perhaps I'd vote for him.

Feel free to bash me.   

[Landslide Lyndon]

Is suicide an option? If not I have to go with... Actually, both are horrible and I coan't choose. I'd probably vote Henry Wallace, looking from a historical perspective, he couldn't have done THAT much damage. Actually, yes he could.

George Wallace would have done a lot less damage than Henry Wallace.

Unless you were a Nigrah or a Messican.

Wallace's views on segregation were to gain votes.  Before 1958 and after 1972/76, he was committed to civil rights.

I agree. Wallace's sin wasn't racial hatred but blind ambition. The only reason he adopted the most hateful and vile racial rhetoric between 1958 and 1970 was to promote his political career. Otherwise he didn't seem to care much about blacks. When it became politically expedient he moderated his views again and even appointed a great number of African-Americans in his administration.

The following passage from Wikipedia is very revealing of his character:

When a supporter asked why he started using racist messages, Wallace replied, "You know, I tried to talk about good roads and good schools and all these things that have been part of my career, and nobody listened. And then I began talking about ns, and they stomped the floor.''

[Landslide Lyndon]

it can be argued that exploiting issues such as racism and segregation for political gain is worse than actually being a racist or a segregationist.

I could agree with you.
But then again every politician exploits some current wedge issue in order to promote his career.

Just remember what G.H.W. Bush did with crime in 1988 and of course his son with gay marriage in 2004.
I doubt that any of them hated blacks or homosexuals. But when it was convenient they didn't hesitate one minute to demonize them for electoral gains.