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1) I think it's a good example of a good regional ad - The voters in Huntsville (North Alabama) worried about cuts to NASA and Defense in lieu of Parker Griffith switching parties
2) focuses on job creation - which Dems are going to need to do across the country
In what has been surprisingly a very quiet race to replace Artur Davis, Jefferson County Commissioner Shelia Smoot announced she was the first female to qualify as Alabama primary qualified opened last weekend. According to the release she is also still leading the other contenders in the polls. Smoot would be the first African American female elected to Congress from the State of Alabama.
Birmingham, AL) -- Jefferson County Commissioner Shelia Smoot continues to break records in politics, now as the first woman to qualify to run for the U.S. House of Representatives for the 7th Congressional District.
And she continues to poll ahead of six other contenders who are also vying for the seat of U.S. Rep. Artur Davis (D)-Birmingham. Davis left his seat and is now running to become the first black governor for the State of Alabama.
Smoot was the first woman to officially enter the race for Congress when she filed paperwork with the Alabama Democratic Party at its executive committee meeting on Jan. 19. That means her name will appear on the party's ballot in its June 1 primaries.
She also filed paperwork Thursday with the Alabama Secretary of State citing her intent to run for the 7th Congressional District. The district extends from Birmingham into western Black Belt counties including Greene, Pickens, Sumter, Dallas and Wilcox.
Smoot is no stranger to making history. She was the first black woman and the youngest person ever elected to the Jefferson County Commission when she won the District 2 seat in Nov. 2002. She won re-election in 2006.
Polls have shown Smoot leading the field of six candidates in the race since she announced her intent to run for Davis' seat in 2009. A poll released just last month by the Feldman Group -- commissioned by State Rep. Earl Hilliard, Jr., one of her opponents -- showed Smoot as the front-runner in the race.
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
Back from my self-imposed hiatus. Here's a little snapshot of the latest in Alabama politics.
1. Specially set - Birmingham Mayoral Election a week from Today. Patrick Cooper, considered by many to be the leading candidate, began running radio ads touting himself as the post-racial Obama type candidate. These ads were in responce to some smears being made calling him the "white candidate" in the race.
Also - Former Mayor Larry Langford endorsed William Bell in the race . After what is being uncovered about the spending habits of the Langford administration, much less the convictions of Langford on 60 corruption counts, I question the wisdom of why anyone would tout this endorsement.
A number of those same of the same forums being held this week. Expect either a Cooper win outright next Tuesday or a runoff between Cooper and Bell or a Cooper and Emory Anthony. Carole Smitherman seems finished after last weeks antics. I do expect Cooper to get a majority of the more affluent communities vote as well as a decent percentage in other areas. How far does he drop in the Western part of the city is the question?
2. Sam Jones, mayor of Mobile, endorses Artur Davis. Somewhat significant in that Davis could benefit for some reaffirmation right now from African American leaders after being called out by Jesse Jackson on his vote against the House Health Care bill. Davis is doing a good job of showing that black leadership is not monolithic like it may have once been in this state and nationally.
3.
The Over the Mountain Democrats are hosting their annual holiday party on Thursday night at the Fox and Hound in Birmingham.
Here are some of the guests that will attend
Joe Turnham, Chair of the Alabama State Democratic Party
Jim Spearman, Exec Director of the AL State Democratic Party
Ron Sparks, Agricultural Commissioner & Gubernatorial candidate
Jeremy Sherer, candidate State Treasurer
Dr. Wally Retan, Congressional candidate 6th District
Terri Sewell, Congressional candidate 7th District
Earl Hilliard, Congressional candidate 7th District
Circuit Court Judges Robert Vance, Laura Petro, Clyde Jones,
Sherri Friday
District Court Judge Jack Lowther "Bring Back Jack"
Theo Lawson, candidate for JeffCo District Attorney
and many more candidates, politicos and VIPS . . .
including YOU if you RSVP TODAY to pbwarrn@aol.com
In the spirit of the season nurse
please bring an unwrapped toy for
Greater Birmingham Ministries.
Much has been made over the last 12 hours on the vote made by Artur Davis (AL-07) (D+18) and his vote against the health care reform bill.
The bottom line : Davis is currently running for Governor of the State of Alabama and did not believe that he could justify a yes vote in his ambition for 2010.
However, Artur Davis was elected as a Congressman for the 7th Congressional District for his 4th term in 2008. He has a duty to represent his constituency which is one of the poorest, most unemployed and most uninsured in the entire country. He failed that constituency last night and likely miscalculated in his belief that he would not lose voters in his base. I can't say that I'm surprised based on his recent statements that he would vote against HCR. However, I like many others did hold out hope.
We do have a chance to replace him with a more Progressive Dem in 2010 - (discussion below the thread)
The Democratic Primary in the Alabama Gov's race has really heated up in the last week. The two announced candidates, Artur Davis and Ron Sparks, debated at an NAACP Forum on Friday night. A style more suited for Davis's strengths.
Davis hit Sparks on some of his most recent comments very quickly with a web ad released today. I'm interested in seeing the Sparks campaign response.
This ad comes on a lot of rumblings that Davis has moved too far right of the Democratic base in Alabama.
Sparks plans to keep doing what he does well, meeting the people across the state, with a BBQ Meet and Greet/ Fundraiser scheduled for tomorrow night in Cullman. The event will take place at the Cullman Civic Center from 5:30 to 7:00 and according to the invite will include live music, BBQ and Elvis.
Two very contrasting styles of campaigning. Davis obviously much stronger in debate and forum style settings. Sparks better at pressing the flesh and old school retail politicking.
Do other candidates oppose a constitutional convention because they are too tied to special interests or because they believe that special interests will take over the convention? That should be a rhetorical question that everyone knows the former is the obvious answer. However, the candidates in our state think they can trick the voters like they always have.
It's a bad idea, several candidates told The AP, because special interests would hijack a convention, and Alabama would wind up with a new constitution that legalizes gambling and raises taxes. Some candidates, such as Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks and Republican Bradley Byrne, say they favor a new constitution but would allow the Legislature to revise it article by article. Byrne said he would appoint a task force to recommend changes to the Legislature for the rewrite, which voters would have to approve. Other candidates, such as Republicans Roy Moore and Bill Johnson, like the current document just fine.
Never mind that the 1901 Constitution was written by white supremacists who, through unjust restrictions, rid the state's voting rolls of blacks and poor whites. Or that the drafters wanted to constrict and concentrate government in Montgomery, where a coven of special-interest masters could more easily call the shots in the Legislature. Or that the constitution withholds power from local governments, which best know how to deal with local issues. Or that, in the ultimate irony, the constitution was approved only through the massive fraud of thousands of falsified black voter returns
What a week it has been in the world of Alabama politics. I discussed in a thread over the weekend that I would be moving most of my Alabama diaries to Left in Alabama . I will still occasionally do an Alabama wrap-up as we have a slew of Alabama readers.
1. Earlier this year I announced that I am supporting Shelia Smoot in the AL-07 open seat being vacated by Artur Davis - seeking the Gov's Mansion. Smoot leads the pack in an AL-07 poll commissioned by Earl Hilliard . This is the first released poll in this race. An email from Smoot's campaign says
The poll was conducted Aug. 31-Sept 2 and shows Commissioner Smoot with 24% and Rep. Earl Hilliard Jr. with 19% as the clear frontrunners.
"The poll is not surprising to me. It is what the people have been telling me as I travel throughout the District," Shelia remarked. "I know the people of District 7 and I have been working with most of them for several years. They know Shelia Smoot is on their side. You cannot buy that kind of experience and trust."
The poll also showed Commissioner Smoot to have a decided advantage in name ID as well. Smoot had 68% and Hilliard 56%. Much of that that can also be attributed to her hard work and tv/radio work on behalf of the consumer.
Others receiving mention in the poll were former Selma Mayor James Perkins with 9% and Birmingham attorney Terri Sewell at 4%.
Not sure if he got in any trouble while he was home. Badump tish.
Retired NBA star and commentator Charles Barkley, channeling Jimmy Carter, said that his home state "is not ready to elect" Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), who is vying to become the first African-American governor of Alabama.
"They're not ready. They didn't vote for Barack Obama. They're not going to vote for Artur Davis," Barkley told WSFA-TV in an interview at a golf tournament..
I'm not sure that Barkley's comments mean a whole lot. We all love to watch Barkley on TNT , but he's rough around the edges and spouts off all the time. The media loves to talk to him since he's quotable.
While we have been captivated by national politics the last couple of days, Alabama politics and the 2010 Gubernatorial race kept moving forward. Here's are three items of interest - discussed in detail below the thread.
1. Artur Davis introduces his wife through a campaign video.
2. Ron Sparks lays out plan for improving roads and bridges.
3. How does Alabama compare to the rest of this country in Democratic trends? What does this mean for the 2010 gubernatorial race?
Last week Lilly Ledbetter spoke to a group of Democratic Party activists in Huntsville where she gave a speech in which she indicated her support for Artur Davis. Today the Davis campaign released this viral web video of Ledbetter announcing her support. This should come as no big surprise since Davis was the only member of the Alabama delegation to support the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Act. Lilly Ledbetter's endorsement should carry more water than Chuck Norris who recently endorsed Roy Moore. She's got a lot more true courage in my book.
The Alabama blogosphere has been consumed with discussing the Alabama 2010 Governor's primary the last couple of days. Well the latest email blast (see below the thread) from the Ron Sparks campaign quoting Artur Davis is likely to spark (yes pun intended) even more dialogue.
The Sparks campaign takes a clear shot at Davis and recent comments that were made in an interview with The Tuskegee News .
We are going to run on state issues. We're not running for the U.S. Senate, not running for president of the United States. Not running as a congressman at this point. I'm running on my vision for the State of Alabama. I'm running on my capacity to lead Alabama, to pull its people together and to navigate around the very difficult challenges that will face the next governor.
No democrat can spend a year and a half running on federal issues in Alabama. It's not a hospitable environment for the National Democratic Party. Having said that, we are not going to spend a year and a half running on federal issues. We're are going to run on state issues and invite voters to judge us that way.
Below the thread find out what Sparks campaign said about these comments in their email blast today.
Davis admitted in his interview that he's a centrist, although I'm not sure that his comments above indicate that he's throwing the rest of the Democrats to the wolves. Mooncat at LIA does a good job explaining some legitimate concerns with this email language.
The short answer - only if he can siphon off a block of the African American vote in the Democratic Primary. He will need to perform much better with African American voters than Hilary Clinton did in the 2008 Presidential Primary .
Recent Alabama Education Association polling shows Congressman Artur Davis leading Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks by 30 points. I believe that it would be fair to call Artur Davis the perceived front runner for several reasons including the recent polling numbers. He has an inherent advantage with African-American voters, likely well ahead of Sparks in raising money and he also has a high powered national staff. All that being said, many influential politicos and analysts in this state and across the nation have said that we can not write off Ron Sparks as he has his own advantages.
Sparks is a proven statewide vote getter and knows all the nooks and crannies of the state. One strength that many not be aware of is his competent Alabama rooted staffers. Many elected officials in this state are also said to be interesting in lining up behind him and he has his own plan for attracting African American supporters.
According to a Capital Research Poll (the Alabama Education Association's respecting polling outfit) of 900 likely voters Artur Davis beats all-comers in the 2010 Gubernatorial Race.
Surprising that the closest to Davis (an early Obama presidential campaign ally) is Ten Commandments Judge Roy Moore - recently endorsed by Texas Walker Ranger - aka Chuck Norris
For decades, gambling has been a hot-button issue in Alabama political campaigns. No reason to believe 2010 will be any different based on the latest campaign rhetoric.
Alabama 2010 gubernatorial candidate Ron Sparks seems to be hinging his hopes for winning the primary on a gambling platform. The other Democratic candidate, Artur Davis, believes that casinos cannot solve all of our economic concerns.
Some political analysts believe that Sparks platform may curry favor with African-American voters.
Veteran political scientist William Stewart says it's a huge gamble that may help the white candidate appeal to African-American voters in the Democratic primary against black U.S. Rep. Artur Davis of Birmingham.
"It will be most helpful in his bid to win the Democratic nomination because a high number of African-American voters favor more legalized gambling in Alabama," said Stewart, former chairman of the political science department at the University of Alabama.
However, the likelihood of a Republican legislature agreeing to casino gambling is very unlikely. Here's what one legislator thinks
If Sparks should become governor, state Rep. Randy Hinshaw, D-Meridianville, said he will have a hard time getting the Legislature to vote to legalize casinos. Hinshaw said a constitutional amendment requires support from three-fifths of the House, and there is no way a Democratic governor can get that without picking up backing from some Republicans who traditionally oppose gambling legislation.
Our thoughts
The State of Alabama must look for innovative answers to promote economic growth. However, recycling old ideas just to get some political favor is nothing to be impressed about. If Sparks is serious about his proposals then he will realize he's going to have to have bipartisan appeal for this idea?
The tale of two Democratic campaigns -
one by Sparks focused on gambling as the the panacea to our State's problems
one by Davis focusing on ethics reform and end to corruption.
Right now Davis seems to be easily winning the battle.
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