Left in Alabama commenter
bluebearcat makes one of the most profound analysis of the divisions within the Alabama Democratic Party I've heard in a long time, and also makes a compelling case for the need for some deep
democratic soul searching, in response to mooncat's accusation
There's a double standard for black office holders and office seekers in Alabama whenever they get outside of minority districts, What bluebearcat said, emphasis mine;
Here's a couple of differences....
1) There's a difference between an incumbent taking a symbolic vote in hopes that their constituents won't be represented by a Republican and a congressman from a safe Dem district actually putting a major reform in jeopardy in hopes that he will get elected to higher office. Both are disappointing, but one took a meaningless action for survival; the other jeopardized health care reform (and, yes, voting against health care reform while its eventual outcome was in doubt did in fact jeopardize its passage).
2) Davis campaigned as a trans formative figure for Alabama politics; he often spoke about the exact same hypocrisy and corruption that you refer to above. But, if he was serious about making things better, MAKE THINGS BETTER. Davis had a chance and showed us the content of his character. Actually, he had multiple chances and each time let his district and his supporters. Whether it was hate crimes or the Justice Department, Artur Davis turned an impressive legacy as a congressman into a sad example of gutlessness in the face of ambition.
My argument is not that the established ADP bureaucracy is somehow better than Artur Davis. They are not. My argument is that Artur Davis is every bit as bad. It is a false choice to say that we must choose between the regressive and antiquated status quo of the ADP and the neo-Conservative ideas of Artur Davis. We should choose neither. There is a future for progress in this state, but it ought not be built on capitulation before the fight has even begun.
For the life of me I cannot understand the dogmatic
defense of the indefensible by those who call themselves progressives. When
Artur Davis voted against health care reform, he voted against his party and his constituents for his own political gain. It was more important for him to pander to white voters than to do right by the people who elected him. He betrayed the public trust. As bluebearcat said it showed the true content of his character, and IMHO voters were right to reject him at the ballot box. If any other elected official had betrayed their constituents in that manner I feel safe in saying he/she would be
called out and rightly so. Why does
Artur Davis get a free pass because of the color of his skin? What does it say about white voters if they only way they will support an African American candidate is if he panders to them at the expense of the people who elected him?
15 of 16 Congressional Black Caucus members from the South voted in support of the legislation. Without the nearly unified and unanimous support of the CBC, it is likely health care reform would not have had a chance, which brings us back to Artur Davis's opposition to health care reform.
Davis is running for governor of Alabama and even though his constituents are among the Yellow Hammer state's poorest and most in need of comprehensive health care reform, he voted against their needs to position himself as a moderate. He knows that in order to win the votes of white moderates (he'll never win the votes of white conservatives) he must show that he is against the expansion of government. Yet, throughout his career—moderate by CBC standards, liberal by white Alabama standards—Davis consistently supported the CBC agenda, which encourages the government to actively improve the lives of their constituents.
Essentially, Davis threw his current constituents under the bus for his own political advancement.
White Alabama democrats have some deep soul(pun intended)searching to do. Speaking only for myself, I'm tired of the "we want black democrats to be seen but not heard" mentality of the party elite. I'm tired of the African American vote being taken for granted. I'm tired of conservatives running as democrats to take advantage of the black vote then governing like a conservative republican. I'm tired of democratic candidates pandering to the right at the expense of the traditional base. I'm tired of African Americans being treated like second class citizens with a nod, nod, wink, wink. To quote
Dr. Joe Reed;
You cannot curse Bubba and Cooter, Big Man, and June Bug in the daytime and beg them at night. If I wanted a republican representative/governor/senator I would vote republican.
I don't have to be member of the Alabama Democratic Party, I chose to be a member of the Alabama Democratic Party because I believed we shared goals and values. I choose not to be a member of a democratic party who would rather lose than stand up and fight for what is right.
