Yesterday in La Crosse
Wisconsin was very early in primary season, 52 years ago
Only 14 states had presidential primaries in 1968. New Hampshire was first as usual, in March, favoring President Lyndon Johnson and former Vice President Richard Nixon. Wisconsin’s primary was next, on April 2nd. State Democrats chose Minnesota’s Eugene McCarthy over Johnson, who had announced two days earlier that he would not seek re-election. Republicans favored Nixon, 80% to 10%, over Ronald Reagan.
Packers fans celebrated a second straight Super Bowl victory in January, when Green Bay beat the Raiders at the second Super Bowl, played in Miami. The game was carried on CBS, including WKBT in La Crosse. Channel 8 had just cancelled Bozo the Clown, played by Jack Martin, and ran the Merv Griffin talk show in the late afternoon.
On Friday nights in early 1968, you could turn on the TV and watch “Gomer Pyle,” “Tarzan,” the second season of the original “Star Trek,” and “The Hollywood Squares,” yesterday in La Crosse.