The World Around You

Alabama Attorney General Troy King’s hopes that the rumors about him had peaked, is now goingt o have to face the questions because the Birmingham News finally found an angle to bring it up…Troy’s hiring practices.

Not receiving raises has not been a problem for another King employee — 24-year-old John W. Godwin. Godwin started working in the attorneys general office as an unpaid intern last summer, when he was a senior at Troy University. Shortly after arriv­ing in Kings office, Godwin was put on the payroll at $10 an hour. Over the next nine months, Godwin rapidly ascended the ladder. In July 2007, King ap­pointed him as a special ad­ministrative assistant earning $39,456 a year. He completed his degree in broadcast jour­nalism in December, and on March 27 was named to his current title of executive assis­tant, a job paying $57,504 annually, according to state records. “J.W. is an exceptional young man who is the chief aide to the attorney general and who is almost indispens able in terms of the many functions he carries out in this office,” Bence said. Bence said Godwins duties include policy research and constituent relations, and he serves as a liaison between the attorney general and the staff. Godwin travels with King as part of his duties, such as ac­companying him to this years National Association of Attorneys General Conference.

So, he’s the Attorney General’s “travel companion”…riiiiight.

H/T: Mooncat at Left in Alabama

A very interesting article appeared in the Sunday Times of London, written by Sarah Baxter. I certainly wish her conclusion was accurate, but it’s not. The racist south is still alive…if still getting sicker by the day. It’s not dead yet, but it will die, with the assistance of a new generation of citizens who don’t believe in its principles any longer.

H/T: Mooncat at Left in Alabama

Alabama Rep. Artur Davis got a mention in a post this weekend discussing potential keynote speakers for the Democratic National Convention. I hadn’t thought about it, but he would be a very good choice…and it would certainly do a lot to bring national attention to his race for governor in 2010.

MyDD :: Who Will Give The Keynote Address?

It is a very smart move on the part of Rep. Artur Davis, to consider not attending the Judiciary Committee’s impeachment hearing today.

DAVIS: “If I go to the hearing, it will be to make the point that while I think there have been certain abuses by the administration . . . impeachment in my opinion ought to be reserved for someone who commits a demonstrable violation of the federal criminal statutes. I don’t think it’s been proven or established that President Bush did that.”

Unlike mooncat, I fully agree with Davis on this point and I do believe it would be smart not to attend.

Left In Alabama:: Artur Davis May Not Attend Impeachment Hearing Friday

Swing State Project moved two of our Alabama races one position more Democratic on their rankings and Alabama’s 3rd is now on the watch list. It will take some new polling numbers to move AL-03 up even further on the radar, and it’s not an easy district to poll. My strong suspicion is that Josh Segall is only narrowly behind Mike Rogers at this point, and will continue to close on Rogers over the rest of the summer.

# AL-02 (Open): Likely Republican to Lean Republican

Republicans may have gotten their preferred choice for this race in state Rep. Jay Love, but he was battered heavily in a divisive primary against Wiregrass-area state Sen. Harri Anne Smith. Democrat Bobby Bright’s campaign smartly went up with a bio ad in Dothan, his birthplace, this past Wednesday in an effort to sway Smith supporters. Bright will likely have the airwaves largely to himself for a short period - at least while Love refills his coffers from the expensive and nasty primary. Love, who shares a geographic base with Bright, still has a clear edge in this R+13 district, but it is no longer a commanding one.

# AL-05 (Open): Tossup to Lean Democratic

Republicans were initially quite giddy when longtime Democratic Rep. Bud Cramer retired, leaving his R+6.5 district for the taking, but candidate recruitment and fundraising are tilting the landscape in northern Alabama back to the Democrats. Democrat Parker Griffith, a state senator from Huntsville, significantly out-raised Republican Wayne Parker in the last quarter. Coupled with a divisive Republican runoff that drained Parker’s reserves, Griffith now holds a 5-to-1 CoH advantage in this traditionally Democratic district. Griffith has been airing ads portraying himself as a statesman ready to fill the chair of Bud Cramer, and most observers agree that he is a cut above Parker, who lost this district twice in the ’90s.

Swing State Project:: SSP’s Competitive House Race Ratings (7/22/08)

The Josh Segall for Congress campaign launched a site that will be of great use to the citizens of Alabama’s 3rd congressional district in understanding how they have been represented over the last several years by Congressman Mike Rogers. I’ve been very impressed with the Segall campaign throughout this cycle, and this website is yet more evidence that they know what they are doing in bringing down a Republican in a district that leans Republican.

I particularly liked this part of the press release:

“By all indications, Mike isn’t a bad guy, but I do believe that he’s become a part of the system in Washington that puts politics over people. Folks are sick of politics as usual in Washington; they want common-sense solutions to everyday problems. I’ll bring common-sense solutions to Congress, and that’s the choice voters have on Election Day,” Segall continued.

montgomeryadvertiser.com - Segall launches site critical of Rogers’ Record in Congress

…who also had alleged affairs, which became internet fodder. Publius IX does a great job of laying out the two ways the Troy King story could play out…and so far it looks like we are headed down the same path as Sen. Kerry and Alexandra Polier, as opposed to Clinton and Lewinsky.

The writer is 100% correct, until the mainstream media has something to latch onto that they cannot ignore (either a news event or a mid-level news report), we won’t see the story there.

Left In Alabama:: Whence the Troy King Stories?

I understand where Dan is coming from, and respect his change of heart, but I see things a little differently. Part of what blogs do is discuss what people are talking about, no matter the credibility of the information.

There have been many stories over the four years I have been doing this, that broke on the blogs first, and where you had better information in the blogosphere than in the MSM. In this case with Troy King, we had rumors that were bigger than the reality…but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t put the information that we were hearing out there.

Those who claimed they knew the whole truth were overstepping, but most of us were very cautious in saying what we knew (very little) and what we didn’t know (a lot). This is what bloggers do…in Alabama, or anywhere else.

Troy King should not resign | Daily Dixie

The rumor mill has churned long enough that the outline of the truth seems to finally be emerging. As I suspected, the whole homosexual angle was a too good to be true, but it does appear that Troy was caught in a relationship outside of his marriage and divorce is likely. Resignation may or may not be on the table.

Hypocrite he is…

The word on Troy King | Daily Dixie

It can’t be…it’s too good to be true…Troy King and misconduct? Troy King resigning?

I will reserve my dance of joy until it’s official…but my heart skipped a beat when I read this post…thanks for the heads up mooncat.

Left In Alabama:: Attorney General Troy King Resigns?

UPDATE: Thursday morning, and still no official word…maybe it is too good to be true.