Black Congressman Eyes Alabama Governor’s Seat

[Olde Hornet]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/us/05davis.html?emc=eta1

Under the bright lights of the Pepsi Center in Denver last August, the young black politician delivered a message of change. Raised by a single mother, trained at Harvard Law School and embraced by white supporters despite his strange name and relative inexperience, he told the cheering crowd, “Our time is now.â€￾

Representative Artur Davis, in his Birmingham office, plans to seek the Democratic nomination for governor of Alabama.

That speaker at the Democratic National Convention was Representative Artur Davis of Alabama, but his biography and rhetoric inspired a nickname among listeners: the Obama of Alabama.

On Saturday, Mr. Davis, 41, a four-term congressman from Birmingham, will kick off his campaign for an office that may be even more daunting to a black politician than the presidency: the governorship of Alabama. If elected, he would be the first black governor of a Deep South state since Reconstruction.

 

[jsupop33]

does he have a chance?

 

[J C]

does he have a chance?

No! Obama only got 11% of the white vote. Alabama is one of reddest of red states.

 

[JSU*Toi]

No! Obama only got 11% of the white vote. Alabama is one of reddest of red states.

Yes! it's slim but he does. Artur is more more centrist than Obama. He also does not tote the party line and has voted with the GOP on issues like gun law, late-term abortion and global warming. He only needs about 30-32 % of the white vote which is doable. It will be a hard race but if ran correctly he can make it happen.

 

[JSU/99]

Yes! it's slim but he does. Artur is more more centrist than Obama. He also does not tote the party line and has voted with the GOP on issues like gun law, late-term abortion and global warming. He only needs about 30-32 % of the white vote which is doable. It will be a hard race but if ran correctly he can make it happen.

He'll also benefit from a somewhat weak Republican field. That nutcase Roy Moore could turn out to be their nominee. The key will be African American turnout and percentages. Obama carried over 95% of the black vote and turnout was almost twice from the what it was during the 2006 gubernatorial election. It'll be hard for Davis to replicate those numbers while pulling 30% of the white vote. The question i have is how popular is Davis among African Americans in Alabama, how much will President Obama get involved and how undesirable will the ultimate Repub nominee be?

 

[jsupop33]

I remember when one of the past Governors tried to pass a new tax law in the state that would have really benefitted the black community but the blacks didn’t support it. :shame:

 

[J C]

Yes! it's slim but he does. Artur is more more centrist than Obama. He also does not tote the party line and has voted with the GOP on issues like gun law, late-term abortion and global warming. He only needs about 30-32 % of the white vote which is doable. It will be a hard race but if ran correctly he can make it happen.

Toi, the election of Barack and his success has enraged the white electorate and cemented their repub roots. Actually 27% could do it for Artur. He's smart and well qualified. State wide elections are swinging more republican. I made the above comment as a political observer. I hope I'm wrong on Artur and will support his effort.

 

[BlackCaesar2k5]

JSUPOP33: It was governor Bob Riley that tried to pass new tax law benefit the poor and working class back in 2003..

 

[usm]

The voting record of Alabamians over the past 25 years suggests Mr Davis has very little chance of running a successful campaign for governor. There are too many pro-life, pro-family, patriotic Christian Americans in the state to allow that to happen. He might consider a move to Illinois or Massachusetts where the electorate is more predominantly amoral.

 

[GRAM4LIFE]

...too many pro-life, pro-family, patriotic Christian Americans...

So he's anti-life, anti-family, anti-patriotic?

 

[BluBlood]

Hmmm...what happen to Charles Barkely?

 

[jsupop33]

JSUPOP33: It was governor Bob Riley that tried to pass new tax law benefit the poor and working class back in 2003..

yep, and the poor and working class didn't support it...

 

[Attack Dog]

A lot of money still flows into the hands of people in Alabama for influencing votes.

It seems that Davis is the best choice, but too many love Roy Moore.

 

[CEE DOG]

The voting record of Alabamians over the past 25 years suggests Mr Davis has very little chance of running a successful campaign for governor. There are too many pro-life, pro-family, patriotic Christian Americans in the state to allow that to happen. He might consider a move to Illinois or Massachusetts where the electorate is more predominantly amoral.

You are right, those same people believe in hating folks for the color of their skin and being racist against anything that's not white. They have great morals. Go to church on Sunday and after service they turn back to the racist folks they are. :tup:

 

[BlackCaesar2k5]

USM: IF I recalled, Illnois and Massachusetts has reputation of being on right side of history when it comes to anti-slavery, equal rights, labor rights, social justice and economic justice.. Unlike Alabama and Mississippi, which has terrible history of electing racists and klansmen as governors, senators and congressmen...

Oh yeah, Illnois and Masschusettes doesn't have confederate flags on their public buildings unlike good moral christians of Alabama...


JSUPOP33: It was strongly opposed by Christian Coalition, Business leaders, GOP and power interest groups outside state of Alabama... Riley lost in part because fifty-five percent of blacks in the state supported his reform.. Blacks would have been better off under his plan.. Perphaps Riley's record as a right-wing republican caused them to be wary. Blacks leaders in the state had recently split with him over voting rights for felons...

Virigina was once consider the reddest state in Union back in 1990.. The commonwealth state elected L.Douglas Wilder as their governor.. I truly believe Alabama is ready for change and substance.. Davis has strong chance of becoming third elected African-American governor since reconstrution...

 

[jsupop33]

USM: IF I recalled, Illnois and Massachusetts has reputation of being on right side of history when it comes to anti-slavery, equal rights, labor rights, social justice and economic justice.. Unlike Alabama and Mississippi, which has terrible history of electing racists and klansmen as governors, senators and congressmen...

Oh yeah, Illnois and Masschusettes doesn't have confederate flags on their public buildings unlike good moral christians of Alabama...


JSUPOP33: It was strongly opposed by Christian Coalition, Business leaders, GOP and power interest groups outside state of Alabama... Riley lost in part because fifty-five percent of blacks in the state supported his reform.. Blacks would have been better off under his plan.. Perphaps Riley's record as a right-wing republican caused them to be wary. Blacks leaders in the state had recently split with him over voting rights for felons...

Virigina was once consider the reddest state in Union back in 1990.. The commonwealth state elected L.Douglas Wilder as their governor.. I truly believe Alabama is ready for change and substance.. Davis has strong chance of becoming third elected African-American governor since reconstrution...

We have a klansman and a crook in all in one in Mississippi's governor's mansion right now.... :upset:

 

[Killer Bees]

does he have a chance?

In my honest opinion, no. Race is one thing, but he is way too liberal for that state.

 

[JSU/99]

In my honest opinion, no. Race is one thing, but he is way too liberal for that state.

What are you basing this on? Davis's is a moderate. Even tho he's close to Obama, politically he's more in line with Harold Ford.

Right now, early polling has Davis polling well against the top Repub contenders in the polls, albeit withing the margin of error and with a high number of undecideds. He has a shot.

We tested eight potential match ups for Governor of Alabama last week, and they almost all came out within the margin of error.

The early front runner appears to be Republican Bradley Byrne who leads Democrats Artur Davis and Ron Sparks 39-35 and 41-27 in prospective contests.

Davis nonetheless looks to be quite a formidable candidate, as he holds small leads in matches against three other likely Republican contenders. He has a 39-31 edge on Kay Ivey, a 41-38 one on Roy Moore, and a 37-35 lead over Tim James.

Sparks doesn't poll quite as well against the other GOP hopefuls. He leads Ivey 33-29, is tied with James at 32, and trails Moore 38-36

http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2009/06/alabama-governor-looks-competitive.html

 

[Killer Bees]

What are you basing this on? Davis's is a moderate. Even tho he's close to Obama, politically he's more in line with Harold Ford.

Right now, early polling has Davis polling well against the top Repub contenders in the polls, albeit withing the margin of error and with a high number of undecideds. He has a shot.


http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2009/06/alabama-governor-looks-competitive.html

I just feel Alabama is too far right for any black Democrat to win, but I would love to be wrong.

 

[JROCK]

I just feel Alabama is too far right for any black Democrat to win, but I would love to be wrong.

I think you are correct..........But nothing beats a fail but a try........:tup: Got to give props to the brother......

 

[J C]

Race barriers in post-Obama South
By: Nia-Malika Henderson and Jonathan Martin
December 9, 2009 11:31 PM EST

After last year’s historic presidential campaign, a new season of opportunity seemed at hand for African-American candidates in the South. Not only had a black man been elected president, he had carried Virginia and North Carolina along the way.

But Dixie is slow to yield its traditions and paradoxes, as Rep. Artur Davis is finding as he tries to fashion an Obama-style cross-racial coalition in his bid to become Alabama’s first black governor.

If anything, Davis, a Democrat, is finding it may be more complicated than ever for African-Americans to win statewide races in the Deep South. In today’s political landscape, it’s not just old-style prejudice that must be overcome but also a more complicated stew of long-simmering personal grievances, generational tensions and intraracial rivalries.

Never a favorite of the state’s Democratic establishment, Davis has come under fierce attack from Joe Reed — for years the most influential African-American in Alabama politics — for being the only black House member to oppose health care legislation. Reed savaged Davis as a political opportunist who opposed the bill to curry favor with the state’s conservative-leaning white majority.

Davis’s vote showed that “because he is now running for governor, he is looking out for himself and not the people,†Reed wrote in the newsletter of the influential Alabama Education Association, where he’s a top official. He added: “You cannot curse Bubba and Cooter, Big Man and June Bug in the daytime and beg them at night.â€

Davis shot back this week that Reed “believes that a public official’s race matters more than his capacity for independent judgment.â€

“He believes that a black American who holds elected office must follow a certain path or be inauthentic,†wrote Davis in a statement.

The sniping continued. Reed, noting that he had helped create the black-majority district that Davis represents, retorted that he had been registering voters and helping candidates “when Congressman Davis was making mud cakes under the shade tree.â€

The exchange vividly illustrates Davis’s multilayered challenge in breaking the political color line of the Deep South, where no African-American has been elected governor or senator since Reconstruction. (African-Americans have had more success in border-state Virginia, where L. Douglas Wilder was elected governor in 1989.)

Running in a state where just 10 percent of white voters supported President Barack Obama last year, Davis cannot win unless he makes deep inroads with Alabamians who supported John McCain and don’t like the president.

By voting no on health care reform and then taking after the embodiment of the state’s black old guard, Davis sent an unmistakable message that he’s not a conventional African-American politician.

Complete article:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30427.html

 

[JSU*Toi]

Race barriers in post-Obama South
By: Nia-Malika Henderson and Jonathan Martin
December 9, 2009 11:31 PM EST

After last year’s historic presidential campaign, a new season of opportunity seemed at hand for African-American candidates in the South. Not only had a black man been elected president, he had carried Virginia and North Carolina along the way.

But Dixie is slow to yield its traditions and paradoxes, as Rep. Artur Davis is finding as he tries to fashion an Obama-style cross-racial coalition in his bid to become Alabama’s first black governor.

If anything, Davis, a Democrat, is finding it may be more complicated than ever for African-Americans to win statewide races in the Deep South. In today’s political landscape, it’s not just old-style prejudice that must be overcome but also a more complicated stew of long-simmering personal grievances, generational tensions and intraracial rivalries.

Never a favorite of the state’s Democratic establishment, Davis has come under fierce attack from Joe Reed — for years the most influential African-American in Alabama politics — for being the only black House member to oppose health care legislation. Reed savaged Davis as a political opportunist who opposed the bill to curry favor with the state’s conservative-leaning white majority.

Davis’s vote showed that “because he is now running for governor, he is looking out for himself and not the people,†Reed wrote in the newsletter of the influential Alabama Education Association, where he’s a top official. He added: “You cannot curse Bubba and Cooter, Big Man and June Bug in the daytime and beg them at night.â€

Davis shot back this week that Reed “believes that a public official’s race matters more than his capacity for independent judgment.â€

“He believes that a black American who holds elected office must follow a certain path or be inauthentic,†wrote Davis in a statement.

The sniping continued. Reed, noting that he had helped create the black-majority district that Davis represents, retorted that he had been registering voters and helping candidates “when Congressman Davis was making mud cakes under the shade tree.â€

The exchange vividly illustrates Davis’s multilayered challenge in breaking the political color line of the Deep South, where no African-American has been elected governor or senator since Reconstruction. (African-Americans have had more success in border-state Virginia, where L. Douglas Wilder was elected governor in 1989.)

Running in a state where just 10 percent of white voters supported President Barack Obama last year, Davis cannot win unless he makes deep inroads with Alabamians who supported John McCain and don’t like the president.

By voting no on health care reform and then taking after the embodiment of the state’s black old guard, Davis sent an unmistakable message that he’s not a conventional African-American politician.

Complete article:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30427.html

I have had the pleasure of working with Mr. Joe Reed more then I care to count he is a character to say the least.

 

[SUtrp96]

Yes! it's slim but he does. Artur is more more centrist than Obama. He also does not tote the party line and has voted with the GOP on issues like gun law, late-term abortion and global warming. He only needs about 30-32 % of the white vote which is doable. It will be a hard race but if ran correctly he can make it happen.

Well go help him out...

 

[J C]

I have had the pleasure of working with Mr. Joe Reed more then I care to count he is a character to say the least.

Believe it or not the white Democrat will receive the majority of black votes in the primary. Davis has made a strategic error leading up to the primary. The voters he's trying to attract will not vote in the Democratic primary. His machivellian vote and rhetoric have not gone over very well in his own congressional district.

 

[Gsu95]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/us/05davis.html?emc=eta1

Under the bright lights of the Pepsi Center in Denver last August, the young black politician delivered a message of change. Raised by a single mother, trained at Harvard Law School and embraced by white supporters despite his strange name and relative inexperience, he told the cheering crowd, “Our time is now.â€￾

Representative Artur Davis, in his Birmingham office, plans to seek the Democratic nomination for governor of Alabama.

That speaker at the Democratic National Convention was Representative Artur Davis of Alabama, but his biography and rhetoric inspired a nickname among listeners: the Obama of Alabama.

On Saturday, Mr. Davis, 41, a four-term congressman from Birmingham, will kick off his campaign for an office that may be even more daunting to a black politician than the presidency: the governorship of Alabama. If elected, he would be the first black governor of a Deep South state since Reconstruction.

:lecture: My fellow blacks lets support our fellow black counterparts who are trying to reach for the highest level of sovereignty and may they leave trails of justice that shines throughout history!