Over the past day or so I heard and read a number of stories about Judge Charles Price and Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb deciding not to run in the Democratic Primary Election for Governor. While the stories appeared on a variety of media, none seemed to put the decisions in perspective. AP reported weeks ago that the AEA double team of Joe Reed and Paul Hubbard met with both of the potential candidates to urge them to run. Why? Because the existing Democratic field isn't democratic enough. OK, make that not pro-AEA enough. One way or the other, there is disenchantment in the air in some quarters about Artur Davis and Ron Sparks. Davis bragged in a campaign e-mail late this afternoon that the field is now settling (on him and Sparks), and he had kind words for the senior judge: "Judge Cobb is in my opinion one of the most formidable campaigners in Alabama and she has earned the respect of the bench and bar in our state." Probably not what we would have heard had she decided to run."
Most the the Davis email discusses the Lottery proposal/gambling tax Sparks unveiled last week, saying he would not block a vote of the people if the Legislature passed a lottery bill. He does not say whether he would encourage people to vote one way or the other on a lottery constitutional amendment, or if he would encourage legislators to pass the bill in the first place. By the way, in place of "gambling", Davis proposes: "growing jobs and recruiting companies to our state."
There wasn't a word in the Davis campaign email about Judge Price's decision. Not a word. And the silence may just speak more loudly than any words would have. Politico.com discusses the backstory between AEA's Joe Reed and Davis in a June 24 posting:
"While Davis remains the clear Democratic front-runner, Alabama insiders say opposition from the party establishment adds yet another imposing hurdle in a state with a thin history of electing African-American candidates to statewide office.
Whether Davis is actually the "clear Democratic front-runner" is debatable, but he knows there are tens of thousands of AEA employees, and they tend to vote. So Davis will attend the AEA Leadership Conference on the 27th in Huntsville, despite the apparent animosity at the top.
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Jul 6, 2009
Price & Bell etc
Over the past day or so I heard and read a number of stories about Judge Charles Price and Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb deciding not to run in the Democratic Primary Election for Governor. While the stories appeared on a variety of media, none seemed to put the decisions in perspective. AP reported weeks ago that the AEA double team of Joe Reed and Paul Hubbard met with both of the potential candidates to urge them to run. Why? Because the existing Democratic field isn't democratic enough. OK, make that not pro-AEA enough. One way or the other, there is disenchantment in the air in some quarters about Artur Davis and Ron Sparks. Davis bragged in a campaign e-mail late this afternoon that the field is now settling (on him and Sparks), and he had kind words for the senior judge: "Judge Cobb is in my opinion one of the most formidable campaigners in Alabama and she has earned the respect of the bench and bar in our state." Probably not what we would have heard had she decided to run."
Most the the Davis email discusses the Lottery proposal/gambling tax Sparks unveiled last week, saying he would not block a vote of the people if the Legislature passed a lottery bill. He does not say whether he would encourage people to vote one way or the other on a lottery constitutional amendment, or if he would encourage legislators to pass the bill in the first place. By the way, in place of "gambling", Davis proposes: "growing jobs and recruiting companies to our state."
There wasn't a word in the Davis campaign email about Judge Price's decision. Not a word. And the silence may just speak more loudly than any words would have. Politico.com discusses the backstory between AEA's Joe Reed and Davis in a June 24 posting:
"While Davis remains the clear Democratic front-runner, Alabama insiders say opposition from the party establishment adds yet another imposing hurdle in a state with a thin history of electing African-American candidates to statewide office.
Whether Davis is actually the "clear Democratic front-runner" is debatable, but he knows there are tens of thousands of AEA employees, and they tend to vote. So Davis will attend the AEA Leadership Conference on the 27th in Huntsville, despite the apparent animosity at the top.
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Seems that in the picture, the "U" is missing from the name of the organization.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't that tell us something?