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The Alabama primaries will be held next week. We have a few endorsements in some of these races.
Alabama Governor - This is a tough call. Artur Davis has brought a lot of attention to the 7th Congressional District. However, as progressives we are extremely disappointed in some of his recent votes that have shown his capitulation to the right. I.E. Health Care Reform, Hate Crimes. Ron Sparks is the alternative in this race and we genuinely like some of his ideas such as an Education Lottery. Sparks has been an outstanding Ag Commissioner and been great in that position. However, we are also disappointed in his stance on constitutional reform. The constitution in its current form continues to hinder our State from reaching its potential. Therefore we issue a no-endorsement in this race.
Alabama Attorney General - Each of the three candidates in this race bring unique strengths to their candidacy. Any of these candidates would be a clear improvement from Troy King. In a tough call we endorse James Anderson based on his years of experience.
State Treasurer - Jeremy Sherer has impressed us with his work ethic as well as his plans to combat predatory lending. Charles Grimsely has an impressive list of accomplishments, however Sherer clearly has the best ideas of how to move the state forward.
AL-05 - We have not been impressed by the negative ads run by Taze Shepard. And while many criticize him for being a lobbyist, we believe that Steve Raby will be able to hit the ground running on day 1. This district has lacked adequate representation under Parker Griffith since his party switch.
AL-07 - Last year we endorsed Shelia Smoot for this seat. We stand by that endorsement as she has run a grassroots campaign despite being significantly outraised by her opponents. We are working with Shelia on a daily basis to help her get elected to Congress.
Parker Griffith, as you might recall, is the former Howard Dean supporter and Congressman who switched to the GOP in hopes of boosting his re-election chances.
Great diary over at Left in Alabama where our friends Mooncat and Countrycat infiltrated the Republican Women's Club of Huntsvile meeting to catch a glimpse of Parker Griffith in his new capacity as Republican member of Congress. The episode seemed like an absolute riot.
I had lunch with the Twickenham Republican Women yesterday. "Special guest" Parker Griffith didn't. Griffith didn't even stay until the meeting was called to order. Both of us made the paper.
When I arrived Parker Griffith was standing near the door talking to some folks, press among them. When I left the room to get my lunch, he was by the door, giving an interview. When I returned he was still by the door, giving an interview, facing returning traffic. It took him an instant to recognize me as I approached the door wearing my best smile, but he quickly recovered from the shock and stuck out his hand. Marc McCarter captures the moment in the Huntsville Times:
As Griffith chatted on the fringe of the crowd, a woman - "one of my Democrat friends," Griffith would say - walked up and greeted him.
One hand held a salad plate. One hand was held out.
"Who," she demanded, "do I contact to get my money back?"
That was me. Of course, Parker shifted me off to a staffer who supplied me with a phone number -- y'all email me if you're still trying to get your contributions back and I'll share. And I strongly recommend that you attend one of his campaign appearances and ask him for a refund in person -- it's much harder for him to brush you off that way and since he's in a contested primary he HAS to make campaign appearances.
A few minutes later Griffith was giving an interview to someone with a tv camera when countrycat came through the door and froze him with her special look. She said the reporter actually turned around to see who he was staring at.
Happy New Year friends! I hope yours was as good as mine, I visited my Dad and Stepmom in Missouri. We had a grand time with many good meals (two at Imo's pizza). Imo's is a chain out there that I really dig. I don't know if it's just that California pizza is bad, or this stuff is just really good pie but either way it's something I always look forward to. We saw Invictus, it's excellent! And I picked up a couple shows for my TiVo that I've been hearing about but hadn't seen: The Dog Whisperer, Jersey Shore and 30 Rock.
When I got back my carrots, bok choy, broccoli and mesclun were sprouted as was my chia cat grass that I got for Christmas. My cat Lenny was happy to see me and I'm happy to get back to my regular routine. 1st stop, can you guys vote on this poll? (Please vote Alabama, I'll explain why below)
1. Susan Parker will not be a candidate for the Dem nomination in AL-05 next year . So two high profile nays in the last two days. Let's go back to the drawing board. Stay optimistic folks. Lots of good talent here.
2. A michigan jail is forgoing warm meals for bologna and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Reason - They found some mold in the 50 year old freezers. Word to the wise - treat inmates like people not worse than you would your pets. They are people.
I haven't agreed with Artur Davis a lot lately on his voting record. However, I do think he's running a good firm campaign. Here's his latest on Ron Sparks and his chronic indecisiveness and his latest flirtation with AL-05.
Below the thread : what this means for our chances and other contenders in AL-05 vacated when Parker "Benedict" Griffith switched parties; my preference is Susan Parker and I tell you why
Multiple sources on and off the record indicate that Ron Sparks will be staying in the Alabama's Gov Race. The DCCC must set their sights on another potential big name candidate to challenge newly minted Republican Parker Griffith.
Susan Parker - Current Public Service Commissioner is the big name still standing. Although she has not indicated she has any interest in the race. Possibly waiting to see the Sparks decision.
I think Sparks languished in the wind for too long on this possibility. He should have been more decisive as soon as the rumors were floating. Will be interesting to see what he says at his pressers around the state today.
And the Artur Davis well oiled machine blasted the seemingly amateur hour Sparks operation once again as I clearly expected. This press release I just received in my inbox
"While Artur Davis is focused on a bold new agenda for our state, Ron Sparks has spent the last week trying to get permission from his political bosses in Montgomery to see if they would let him run for Congress in a district he does not even live in. This is the same Ron Sparks who said just a few weeks ago that he wishes he could run for Agricultural Commissioner again; the same Ron Sparks who was set to run for Lieutenant Governor until the special interests in Montgomery told him they had some other plans for him. And in case we forget, this is the same Ron Sparks who has changed his position on every issue under the sun, from gambling to taxes to health care reform to unemployment benefits. There is a reason why Ron Sparks continues to lag way behind Artur Davis in every poll - he has no core convictions, believes in nothing and as a result will say anything, and the last thing he ought to be is Governor of Alabama."
Background
Ron Sparks tweeted "I am considering all options" when it comes to running for Congress. Twitter, 12/23/2009. http://twitter.com/RonSparks2010
Sparks' campaign manager said he was "open to entertaining other options" and made the case for why his candidate would be formidable in the congressional campaign. "Sparks open to Griffith challenge," Politico, 12/27/2009. http://www.politico.com/news/s...
Ron Sparks said he had "no choice" but to run for governor after Jim Folsom announced he was running for reelection. "What was my choice?" he asked. "I had no choice." "Ron Sparks on Why He's Running," Left in Alabama, 11/24/2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Sparks "didn't seem to have his heart in it," according to a local interviewer. "Davis, Sparks race might not even be close," Tuscaloosa News, 8/12/2009. http://politibits.tuscaloosane...
"If I could run for ag commissioner again, I'd do it," said Sparks, who is term-limited from running for re-election to that post. "Sparks Nearing Decision in 2010," Mobile Press-Register, 2/19/2009. http://www.al.com/press-regist...
Ron Sparks abandoned a run for the U.S. Senate in 2008 to avoid a Democratic primary. Sparks said at the time, "the party needs to be united." He continues to say, "I personally would have liked to run for the United States Senate." "Ron Sparks on Why He's Running," Left in Alabama, 11/24/2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
We've been getting a lot of reports that Ron Sparks is nearing a decision in whether he will seek the AL-05 dem nomination or stay put in the Gov's race. There has been lots of speculation that Ron Sparks would enter this race once Parker Griffith announced last week that he had become a Republican.
Upside - Sparks has high name recognition. District ripe for a populist Democrat.
Downside - Sparks would be criticized for switching races and not living in the 5th.
Yesterday the big Capitol Hill News was the party switch of Parker Griffith (AL-05). Well we found out today that on the eve of this maneuver that Main Street Strategies, Griffith's political consulting firm, downloaded sensitive voter data belonging to the Alabama Democratic Party.
h/t to Left in Alabama for their excellent coverage of the Griffith switcheroo
We've added the AL-05 Dem Nominee Fund to the Progressive Electorate Act Blue Page - We are actively trying to recruit a top notch candidate and much more progressive to the fold that Griffith ever would have been
Bobby Bright - D 191k 489k
Martha Roby - R 91k 178.5 k
AL-03
Mike Rogers - R 170k 308.4k
Joshua Segall - D 130.8k 162.6k
AL 05
Mo Brooks R 64.9k 113.9k
Parker Griffith D 272.2k 618.6k
Les Phillip 67.8k 31.8k
AL-07
Earl Hilliard - D 32.6k 29.4k
James Perkins - D 10.9k less than 1k
Terri Sewell - D 104.8k 317k
Shelia Smoot - D 14.4k 39.7k
Analysis:
AL 02 and AL 05 - Blue Dogs Bobby Bright and Parker Griffith have strong advantages over their challengers.
AL 03 - Josh Segall had an extremely strong quarter and is in great position. He will enter the first of the year a lot stronger than when he started in 2008.
AL 07 - Not a lot of money raised at this point. Sewell has a strong COH advantage although rumors of a poll still has her in the single digits.
So with the earlier reports about Mike Rogers having a cash on hand problem, we have been eagerly awaiting the FEC reports from our three sitting Democratic Congressmen. Of course Artur Davis will be running for Governor, but he will be moving his money from the Congressional account to his state campaign in June.
Bobby Bright - raised $220,583.80 and is currently showing $171,818.78 cash on hand. I'm not overly impressed for someone that will be targeted very heavily as a pick up opportunity for the Republicans. This is not abysmal by any means though and better than what I expected actually. Bright has no campaign debt though.
Parker Griffith - raised $236,173.26 and is currently showing $193,544.60 cash on hand. While it's about the same as Bright and he does have a lot of campaign debt, I think Griffith is in much better shape. I don't think there is a strong Republican bench at all in this District and from what I've been told Griffith is a better fundraiser than Bright.
Artur Davis - Davis raised $110,649.41 but
from my understanding he stopped taking individual contributions after his Gubernatorial announcement in February. However based on looking at his report he did accept PAC contributions in March .
Davis shows $1,121,412.57 in cash on hand which is a very solid amount considering he hoped to be able to move 1 million to his Gubernatorial account.
*Oh and Robert Aderholt R (AL-04) is showing $334,668.71 on hand - officially making Rogers by far with the least amount of cash on hand of any Alabama Congressman. I would imagine that Rogers probably posted one of the lowest incumbent cash on hand numbers in the country.
Joe Turnham, Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party, spoke to the Downtown Democratic Club in Birmingham at Lunch today. Unfortunately, I did not take better notes or any pictures.
Joe Turnham was extremely optimistic about our chances for picking up two to three Congressional Seats. He thinks Parker Griffith (AL-05) is clearly in the lead while Bobby Bright and Jay Love is a toss up at this point (AL-02). He gave some glowing recommendations for giving money to Josh Segall based on the latest poll numbers and his fundraising efforts.
Joe said it was probably not likely the DCCC came into Josh's race. However, with the way the trends are shifting having Rogers at less than 50% we can win this race.
Chairman Turnham also stressed the importance of taking the Judicial races. He was especially excited about Clyde Jones who was in attendance and has been working hard all over the state to win a seat on the Criminal Court of Appeals
Of course all politics are local and we had Shanta Owens in attendance who is running for District Court Judge in Jefferson County (Drug Court). Shanta has been campaigning everyday since I first met her in February when she left her job as an Assistant District Attorney. I am very enthusiastic about candidates like Shanta who work hard and have a clear vision of what they want to achieve in office.
Please remember your local candidates when sending out campaign donations. The tickets at the top of the ticket are important, but we need to make sure we have competent local elected officials and Judges. While I'm not a fan of the current Judicial election system, we have to work within that system to get the best candidates into those positions.
Today, I witnessed perhaps one of the worst campaign ads ever. It's a complete mess and factually untrue from what I've read already. I think that Parker Griffith is the odds on favorite to win this seat, but anything can happen in a Republican leaning district.
Wayne Parker (R) is a lobbyist. Parker Griffith (D) is a medical doctor. Both are contending to replace Bud Cramer (D) who retires at the end of this term.
