The World Around You

Josh did a great job at the political forum with Mike Rogers, check out the video.

There is a nice video of Josh’s discussion with the Opelika-Auburn News Editorial Board this morning and he was able to make a number of good points in their discussion.

Rogers’ television ads blast Segall for his “liberal” stance on issues, including being pro-abortion, and for taking money from Hollywood, but Segall said that’s ridiculous.

“Because Jane Fonda and Sean Penn care about Alabama’s third district,” he joked.

Segall said the donation from Hollywood came from a woman who attended high school with him in Montgomery.

Segall said he believes in a women’s right to choose and supports legislation to reduce the number of abortions by 95 percent in the next 10 years. And as for being labeled a liberal, Segall said he is not what Alabamians think of as liberal.

“I’m socially conservative, I’m fiscally conservative and I believe in a strong military,” he said.

Josh was once given no chance to win this race, but recent polling shows that people are re-evaluating both him and Mike Rogers and seriously considering making a change. I am a strong supporter of Josh Segall and as a resident of the Alabama 3rd Congressional district I want to see him sent to Washington.

House hopeful talks about potential | Opelika-Auburn News.

Someone you may know had a letter to the editor published in the Montgomery Advertiser this morning:

Alabamians should expect more than lip service from their elected officials on energy policy. Democrats and Republicans in Congress have failed to deliver a comprehensive energy policy that will take us into the next millennium.

We have the chance in this election to replace one of those who has been a consistent opponent of comprehensive energy reform, Rep. Mike Rogers. He’s taken more than $85,000 from big oil, including Exxon, and then voted for over $28 billion in tax breaks for the same oil companies.

That’s not representing those of us in the 3rd Congressional District. That is not in our best interest.

This isn’t a partisan issue, it’s about who’s right and who’s wrong on energy policy. Mike Rogers is wrong and Josh Segall is right. Josh Segall is in favor of more domestic drilling, but he’s also in favor of big investment in alternative fuels, producing more nuclear energy and building our energy infrastructure.

Investing in comprehensive energy reform can bring good jobs to Alabama, but being good friends with the oil companies is not going to get us there. Your vote can make a difference.

Some interesting responses here…I was especially intrigued by differences between Mike Rogers and Jay Love (the two Republican candidates). It seems like Jay still has some work to do in understanding some of these issues.

Congressional hopefuls discuss agriculture | montgomeryadvertiser.com | Montgomery Advertiser.

You may disagree with a bill, you may believe it doesn’t stand a chance of passing, but that doesn’t make it a sham.

“I cannot support a bill that offers such limited new drilling options while passing on man­dates that could also burden folks with even higher utility bills,” [Rep. Mike Rogers R-AL] said. “This bill is, quite simply, a political sham.”

Everett, R-Rehobeth, also said the bill was not likely to produce much new oil and not likely to be approved by the Sen­ate.

The House bill is different than a Senate version and prob­ably won’t pass Congress in the few weeks remaining in the ses­sion.

Here are the details of the House bill:

# It allows states to propose oil and natural gas drilling 50 or 100 miles off their coast, and drilling on land for shale oil in some Rocky Mountain states.

# Requires power companies to produce 15 percent of their electricity from wind, solar and other green power by 2020.

# Offers tax credits for the purchase of plug-in hybrid electric cars and to make homes more energy efficient.

# Amends leases granted to oil companies in the late 1990s to require them to pay royalties for drilling on federal lands.

# Renews tax credits for so­lar, wind and other renewable power producers.

I do have a problem with how Pelosi and the Democratic leadership came up with this bill and the way it is being brought to the floor, but I do believe it’s an attempt at trying to allow more offshore drilling while also adding incentives for alternative energy. It’s a shame that it’s become next to impossible for Democrats and Republicans in the House to work together on such a proposal, there is fault on both sides for that.

Rogers says energy bill ‘political sham’ | montgomeryadvertiser.com | Montgomery Advertiser.

The Swing State Project has changed it’s rating of the Alabama 2nd CD race from “Leans Republican” to “Toss-up” and offers the following reasoning:

AL-02 (Open): Lean Republican to Tossup
Despite all the hype surrounding the DCCC’s recruitment of Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright, we have until now been skeptical of Bright’s ability to seal the deal in this conservative R+13.2 district. No longer.

Republicans emerged from their primary with deep divisions - divisions that Bright is now capitalizing on, as most recently evidenced by his endorsement from the Republican mayor of Dothan, the second-largest population center of the district. With two recent polls showing Bright leading by 10 points, the Republicans can no longer claim a clear edge here.

Those poll numbers are indicative of what is happening with this race, but we still have a long way to go to election day.

And in CD-03 they offer the following:

AL-03 (Rogers): Safe Republican to Likely Republican
This race is certainly still a long shot, but Alabama’s 3rd District was drawn to elect a Democrat, and it almost did so in 2002. GOP Rep. Mike Rogers has held this district since then with ease, but attorney Josh Segall’s fundraising (he’s raised $521K since starting his campaign earlier this year) and the district’s demographics can’t be ignored.

Josh is trailing in the latest polls, but he has assembled a great campaign structure and I hope to see some movement in those numbers over the next several weeks.

Swing State Project:: SSP's Competitive House Race Ratings (8/29/08).

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

Josh Segall continues to surprise people with his fundraising prowess. Rep. Mike Rogers is in serious trouble…which is great news for the people of the 3rd District. Alabama has a real chance at having a Democratic majority in it’s congressional delegation, and more importantly adding two strong, competent representatives to its ranks. Replacing Terry Everett and Mike Rogers with Bobby Bright and Josh Segall would be a huge step forward for Alabama and I am excited at the opportunity it presents.

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