# 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)

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

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?

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

Hypocrite he is…

The word on Troy King | Daily Dixie

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.

Left In Alabama:: AL-02: Republican Whining

Credentialed | Daily Dixie

Left In Alabama:: AL-03: Segall Video and Fundraising Tease

Calculated political move? YES Smart, calculated political move? YES again.

Marc Ambinder (July 06, 2008) - Obama To Accept Nomination At Invesco Field

State seeks U.S. waiver on some school transfers- al.com

I agree that we should not be using the results from Google Trends for a particular geographic region to define the standards of that community. The internet is a community unto itself and that is the community someone is operating in when they are online. It has very little relation to their geographic community and the two should not be treated as equals.

Sexual hypocrisy and the Internet. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine

George Carlin mourned as a counterculture hero | TuscaloosaNews.com

Similarities between Davis and Obama range beyond their membership in the 43-member Congressional Black Caucus.

Davis’s parents divorced when he was young and his grandmother and mother, an elementary school teacher, raised him in the west end of Montgomery. Obama was raised in Hawaii by his mother and maternal grandparents. Both Davis and Obama attended Harvard Law School, where Obama graduated two years before Davis. That is where the two first met.

After a stint on Wall Street, Obama worked as a community organizer on Chicago’s hard-pressed South Side. Davis returned to Alabama, where he served the state as an assistant U.S. attorney.

Each man also lost a 2000 Congressional primary: Davis lost to his predecessor, Democratic Rep. Earl F. Hilliard; Obama lost to current Democratic Rep. Bobby L. Rush . Two years later Davis defeated Hilliard, a five-term incumbent who had accrued little influence and was weakened by ethics scandals; Obama won a seat to the Senate in 2004.

“Both of us ran against veteran members of Congressional Black Caucus,” Davis said. “His candidacy even then was about the right things. Barack Obama ’s story is a story of someone who faced a huge setback at around the age of 40 and managed to come back. No one could have imagined that Barack Obama eight years later would be the Democratic nominee for the president of the United States.”

CQ Politics | Alabama Dem May Make Historic Bid for Governor

The Next Host of Meet the Press - Political Insider

I was answering questions at a town hall meeting in Wisconsin the other day and a young man raised his hand, and I figured he’d ask about college tuition or energy or maybe the war in Iraq. But instead he looked at me very seriously and he asked, “What does life mean to you?”

Now, I have to admit that I wasn’t quite prepared for that one. I think I stammered for a little bit, but then I stopped and gave it some thought, and I said this:

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me — how do I make my way in the world, and how do I become successful and how do I get the things that I want.

But now, my life revolves around my two little girls. And what I think about is what kind of world I’m leaving them. Are they living in a country where there’s a huge gap between a few who are wealthy and a whole bunch of people who are struggling every day? Are they living in a country that is still divided by race? A country where, because they’re girls, they don’t have as much opportunity as boys do? Are they living in a country where we are hated around the world because we don’t cooperate effectively with other nations? Are they living a world that is in grave danger because of what we’ve done to its climate?

And what I’ve realized is that life doesn’t count for much unless you’re willing to do your small part to leave our children — all of our children — a better world. Even if it’s difficult. Even if the work seems great. Even if we don’t get very far in our lifetime.

Indeed…Obama for President. Yes we can!
Text of Obama’s fatherhood speech - Politico Staff - Politico.com

My heartfelt condolences go out to his son Luke, his wife, Maureen Orth and the entire Russert clan. Tim will be sorely, sorely missed for many, many years to come.

Marc Ambinder (June 13, 2008) - Tim Russert Is Dead

Republican members who have not endorsed or publicly backed McCain include Sens. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and Reps. Jones, Peterson, John Doolittle (Calif.), Randy Forbes (Va.), Wayne Gilchrest (Md.), Virgil Goode (Va.), Tim Murphy (Pa.), Ron Paul (Texas), Ted Poe (Texas), Todd Tiahrt (Kan.), Dave Weldon (Fla.) and Frank Wolf (Va.).

The question must be asked….why is Senator Sessions withholding his support?

TheHill.com - New Gang of 14 won’t back McCain

Left In Alabama:: Obama Will Put Staff In All 50 States!