Dividing Lines

     Who is a Republican, and who is a Democrat in Alabama? You have a number of old-line Democrats who vote for all the world like members of the GOP. Now the state Republican Party has ruled that Senator Harri Anne Smith was not Republican enough, and will not be on the Republican ballot in June. Her sin? She campaigned for Democrat Bobby Bright in his race for Congress after she was eliminated in the GOP Primary.
     The irony is this: Bright has come under almost constant criticism from Alabama Democrats because he has voted so often with the GOP. He (along with the rest of the state Congressional Delegation) voted against the health insurance reform bill. But he's also under attack by the GOP, which has targeted his seat for takeover (or takeback, since it was a GOP seat before Bright was elected.)
     Another of Senator Smith's sins may have been her vote FOR the Bingo Bill last Monday. She was one of two Senate Republicans to support the legislation. The Country Crossing entertainment center is in her district.
     Is Bobby Bright a real Democrat? Is Harri Anne Smith a real Republican? The evolution of party politics in Alabama continues.
     Smith will run as an independent in November, and since most voters claim to be independents...

[NOTE: Doc's Political Parlor notes that Chip McCallum of Vestavia Hills was also denied a spot on the GOP ballot because of his donations for Democrats.]