MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Walter Mondale and George Wallace, two men who once would have been embarrassed to be seen together, traded compliments in the state Capitol where the losing battle to keep the South segregated was plotted.
Just hours before, Mondale received the endorsement of the widow and father of Martin Luther King Jr., who led a massive march in the 1960s on Montgomery and hammered away at the theme, 'there is a more excellent way' while standing on a flatbed truck just a few hundred feet from the governor's office.
Mondale's odyssey across the South Wednesday -- from the first family of civil rights to the governor who once stood in the schoolhouse door -- showed how far the South has come in just over 20 years.
The man who shouted 'segregation forever' in past decades was re-elected governor last year with heavy black support, and has welcomed black candidate and former civil rights worker Jesse Jackson to the Capitol with enthusiasm.
Mondale told reporters the South has changed since the days of segregation, and Wallace has accepted that change 'in good grace.'
The visit also gave Mondale the chance to call Sen. Gary Hart, his chief rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, a johnny-come-lately on civil rights whose commitment is open to question.
Mondale needs all the help he can get from all factions. He already has lost three out of four contests to Hart, and is considered in a precarious position for the 11 contests on 'Super Tuesday' March 13, including primaries in Florida, Georgia and Alabama.
Jim Johnson, his campaign coordinator, said that polls in the three states are confusing and it is not possible to tell who is ahead although he said he has the feeling Florida is 'tighter' than Georgia or Alabama.
Wallace did not endorse Mondale, but he said he feels 'very kindly' toward the former vice president.
Earlier in Atlanta, the greeting for Mondale was even warmer as Martin Luther King Sr. and Coretta Scott King endorsed him.
The elder King, now soft-voiced and unable to walk without a cane, called Mondale 'one of the best friends I'll ever have.'
Mondale charged that Hart voted in 1979 to support the import of chrome from white-ruled Rhodesia, and he questioned Hart's commitment to civil rights.
Mondale said at a press conference that the Rhodesia chrome vote was a 'very fateful moment in U.S.-African history,' and a chance to vote for human rights, but Hart voted no.
Hart's response to the charges have been mild.
'Walter Mondale does not believe that I am cold-hearted, unconcerned, or insensitive,' Hart said Wednesday in a news conference at Huntsville, Ala.
'Fritz Mondale knows that I am just as committed to arms control as he is. He knows that I am just as committed to civil rights as he is. He knows that I have just as deep feelings for human needs ... as he does,' Hart later said in Birmingham.
