Artur Davis vs Joe Reed Round 2

Poor Artur Davis is a man without a party , and according to him, it's all Joe Reed's fault. Sigh

Yep,  Joe Reed told him to pander to the right at the expense of his constituents for his personal political gain.

The endorsement of these groups is not about who has the best position on health care, or bingo or ethics reform, or unemployment, or jobs — New South endorsed Earl Hilliard, Jr. over Davis in both 2000 and 2002 and they've never given him more than token support in the years since. These endorsements are about kow-towing to the power brokers and Artur Davis has never been willing to do that. Bottom line, history tells us Joe Reed would move heaven and earth to keep ADC from endorsing Artur Davis. Ditto Hank Sanders and New South Coalition. It's the status quo vs. a new way of doing business in Alabama, and the folks who wield power with the current system aren't going to give it up quietly.
Ron Sparks will happily kow-tow and they'll endorse him. No surprise there.

Joe Reed made him throw President Obama and the Democratic Party under the bus 

Joe Reed is the reason he accused African American Alabamians of wholesale voter fraud.

Former Alabama Rep. Artur Davis is either trying to out-Harold Ford Harold Ford by being a Democratic turn-coat, or he's auditioning for a slot on Fox News. Or maybe this is all just sour grapes because he lost in a Democratic primary to Ron Sparks when he ran in 2010.
Anyway, Davis made news last week (the only news he's made since losing in the primary) bywriting an editorial in the Montgomery Advertiser alleging that voter suppression laws were perfectly reasonable. That's because, he says, "the most aggressive contemporary voter suppression in the African American community, at least in Alabama, is the wholesale manufacture of ballots, at the polls and absentee, in parts of the Black Belt."

It's all Joe Reed's fault.

It would be easy to look at yesterday's defeat for Artur Davis as simply a case of Joe Reed's ADC (Alabama Democratic Conference) having its way, but it would be as wrong to assume that, as it was to assume that black voters would automatically vote FOR Davis because he is black.
The fact is, that after punching the ADC in the mouth, which I'm glad he did, Davis didn't seem to have a real plan for connecting with black voters, which was still possible, despite the rift with the ADC. Believe it or not, there's no overwhelming love for Mr. Reed or the ADC in the black community, of which I'm aware.

Not.  But don't let the facts get in the way of the truth.  

Even IF Artur is elected he will not replace the so called aging black political establishment that isn’t ready to give up its out sized role in political affairs. As a matter of fact it will energize the so called aging black political establishment because they know Artur Davis will throw black folks under the bus in a New York minuet. IF Davis is elected he will not be the so called new leader of black folks. Black folks don't follow leaders that will lead them off a cliff. 

Here is another painful truth, if the Alabama Democratic Party can forgive Parker Griffin they have to forgive Artur Davis too.  Note EYE said forgive, not forget.  And trust me, voters have a long memory for traitors, ask Parker Griffin.

Party-switching Rep. Parker Griffith (R-Ala.) on Tuesday became the fourth congressional incumbent this year to be defeated in a primary, losing decisively in his first test before voters in his new party.
With his loss, Griffith became the second party switcher to fall short in as many weeks, following the May 18 defeat of Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), a former Republican who lost the seat he had held for three decades in a Democratic primary.

Here is a modest proposal, allow Artur Davis back into the party, but don't let his name appear on the ballot until we are sure he's learned his lesson.  Until then, EYE don't want to hear another word about Artur Davis.  Not one.

Artur, you lost--and you were wrong. Do us all a favor: Find a comfy place to live in Virginia, lick your wounds, and stay the hell away from Alabama--at least our political world. We have plenty of corporate suck-ups down here. We don't need another one.

RedEye Over and Out 

Re-Post countdown to my being banned from the pages of Left in Alabama in honor of my 5th Blog-O-versery

 

Regular readers know Friday, November 13, 2009 was indeed unlucky for me because it was the beginning of the end of my posting privileges at the  Informed. Involved. Progressive. democratic blog of record,  Left in Alabama,  supposedly because of the content of my comments and other posts.  EYE still think it was because of my non support of a gubernatorial candidate (which EYE ended up being right about). So from now until November 13, 2014,  EYE will re post links to the posts EYE (pun intended) believe led to my being banned from Left in Alabama and let you decide.

Blast from the Past Re-Post #1:  Cynthia Tucker Looks at the Alabama Governors Race

Artur Davis has to walk the fine line in this campaign: convince the big middle of the electorate to judge him on the issues -- he's a fairly moderate reformer with broad appeal -- without turning off voters who may have followed Joe Reed's advice in the past.  He needs to convince those voters to judge him on the issues instead of listening to Reed's advice. 
There's a generational power struggle going on in Alabama that has nothing to do with race.  It's all about whether the current gatekeepers and power brokers in the Democratic party can maintain their hold on the party -- and whether they get to exercise veto power over candidates.  Davis stands largely outside the current party structure and a win for him will signal diminished influence for the folks currently running the show. 
Gatekeepers like Reed and AEA Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert (both of whom are vice-chairs of the state party) probably don't have enough power to deny Davis the nomination outright, but they might have enough power to throw the general election to a Republican.  The November election will be that close and the rift between Davis and Reed appears deep enough that such extreme action is imaginable  -- check the examples of John Tyson or Patricia Todd if you don't believe it.  While denying Davis the governorship because he didn't come, hat in hand, to ask permissions and make deals would probably feel good for a few nanoseconds, it's squarely in the category of "cutting off your nose to spite your face."  The aftermath of such a strategy would certainly bring the Old Guard down in a wave of resentment. 

Be sure and read the comments (please excuse the typos and grammatical errors).

I respect Cynthia Tucker as a a Nobel prize winning journalist and Alabama native, but she doesn't know what she's talking about.  She is playing the old tried and true race baiting card from the bottom of the race deck of cards and saying what white folks say privately but can't say out loud.

RedEye Reports what You decide.